Well-known Columbia lawyer likely winner in race to replace SC Judge Casey Manning

Columbia lawyer Daniel Coble is the likely winner of the three-way race to replace longtime Judge Casey Manning.

Coble, 35 — a former Richland County magistrate and the son of former Columbia Mayor Bob Coble and the grandson of the late state Attorney General Dan McLeod — looks like the victor. The post pays nearly $200,000 per year.

Coble’s two competitors, veteran Richland County Probate Judge Amy McCulloch and longtime criminal defense lawyer Boyd Young, have dropped out of the race.

The General Assembly is scheduled to vote on Manning’s replacement Wednesday.

Coble, McCulloch and Young were all found by the legislative Judicial Merit Selection Commission to have “excellent” temperaments and the kind of formative legal experience that would bode well for the job of state judge. The commission interviewed Coble, McColloch and Young in November.

The Judicial Merit Selection Commission, the screening body for state judges’ posts and for each current or future vacancy, forwards the names of up to three candidates to the General Assembly.

Under commission rules, candidates for judgeships could not lobby lawmakers for their votes until Jan. 18.

In many races, a clear winner often emerges when a majority of the 170 lawmakers pledge their votes to one of several candidates. That might well have been what happened in the race for Manning’s seat, although those who dropped out did not say.

“I would like to thank all the people who supported me,” Young, 48, said, declining to comment further.

And McCulloch, 57, said, “While many of my supporters urged me to stay in, I think the process (of campaigning for votes) just made me realize how much I love my current job and how fortunate I am to work in an area of the law I have passion for.”

The probate court, which handles numerous matters from marriages to wills to commitments to institutions, is the area of the law in which she is best equipped, McCulloch said.

“I feel like I have more to do. I can really do my best work where I am,” she said.

Manning holds a judge’s post in the 5th Judicial Circuit, which includes Richland and Kershaw counties.

Coble, who will be one of the youngest state judges, is a 2009 Clemson University graduate and 2012 University of South Carolina Law School graduate.

His credentials include work as an assistant solicitor with the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s office from 2012-2017, and he was a Richland County magistrate judge from 2017 to 2022. He’s now in private practice and has written on a variety of legal topics.

Coble declined to comment for this article.

This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 8:37 PM.