Alan Wilson focuses early on law enforcement credentials in SC governor’s race
Being the state’s top prosecutor is the key part of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s resume, and he wants to make sure it’s a strength in his campaign to be the state’s next governor.
Before any candidate officially launched a campaign, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a potential Republican candidate for governor, lobbed shots at Wilson questioning his record as attorney general since being elected in 2010.
In his first weeks of formally being a GOP hopeful for governor, Wilson focused on publicly touting his law enforcement record.
His public moves included rolling out endorsements from seven sheriffs in the state, including one Mace claimed credit for putting in office.
Part of campaigning for office is focusing on strengths. But part is striving to give voters a reason why they shouldn’t support an opponent. Sometimes that includes trying to make a candidate’s perceived strength into a weakness.
“If she’s able to poke holes into his record, it speaks to his credibility. If she can convince voters he wasn’t effective as attorney general, then the step is, then he’s not going to be effective as governor,” said Gibbs Knotts, a political science professor at Coastal Carolina University, of Mace’s tactics. “In a world of negative ads and gotcha politics … it makes sense she’s going to attack him on the very job the people of South Carolina elected him to do, and he’s going to have to go back and say, ‘here’s why she’s wrong, (and) what I was able to accomplish.’”
Receiving support from county sheriffs
In a conservative state, being strong on law enforcement is an issue that resonates with the Republican voting base. Wilson has spoken about standing up for victims during his remarks in recent weeks.
“We fought to protect women and children from abuse by pushing to reform our state’s domestic violence laws, giving more tools to law enforcement and prosecutors to go after domestic batterers,” Wilson said in his campaign launch. “We fought for generational reforms to make it easier for victims to get the help they need and the help that they deserve.”
In 2017, South Carolina consolidated its victims’ services agencies into an office under the attorney general. The creation of the Crime Victim Services Division was a move to make it easier for crime victims to navigate through the justice system.
“His office helped us structure the field, you know, so it would be in line with what they wanted,” said former state Sen. Katrina Shealy, who advocated for children’s issues and toughening penalties for domestic violence during her tenure in the state Senate.
She added, Wilson’s office and victims’ advocate Laura Hudson, “worked very hard with our office to help write that bill and make sure that we put everything in there so when it did come back, everything would be legal, and we could get it done without any legal implications.”
Wilson last year convinced lawmakers to include an additional $1.5 million in annual money in the state budget to for his office to create the Violent Crimes Case Reduction Unit so it would help solicitors across the state address the criminal case backlog. That unit recently obtained its first conviction.
At Wilson’s kickoff, among the speakers were Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon and Hudson, the executive director of the S.C. Crime Victim’s Council.
“Alan has been a supporter of crime victims’ rights as long as he’s been in the agency office and before,” Hudson said.
Wilson spent the next morning visiting with law enforcement in Lancaster County. By the end of the week he had the endorsement from Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis.
That support was preceded by support in the Lowcountry in Mace’s backyard.
Wilson rolled out endorsements from several sheriffs including Charleston County Sheriff Carl Ritchie, who defeated previous Sheriff Kristen Graziano in November 2024. Ritchie, along with Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis and Dorchester County Sheriff Sam Richardson, called Wilson a “steadfast partner in keeping our communities safe” in a joint statement. All or parts of the three counties fall within Mace’s congressional district.
“He’s always worked with us and made himself available to what we need,” the statement said. “From helping us tackle illegal immigration, to pushing for stronger penalties on fentanyl and drug dealers, to protecting children by quadrupling the size of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, his leadership delivers real results and that’s why we’re proud to endorse him for governor.”
Ritchie, a Republican, was elected in November after defeating Graziano, a Democrat by 3 points. For months, Mace claimed credit for “single-handedly” ousting Graziano.
“Everyone knows Nancy Mace exposed sanctuary sheriff Kristin Graziano for releasing illegal aliens charged with rape, murder, and child molestation. She gave floor speeches and spoke at Congressional hearings,” Mace Communications Director Sydney Long said in a statement. “She showed evidence. The local press covered it all. Now find one statement, just one, from Alan Wilson or Pamela Evette last year backing her up as she fought to remove Graziano. You won’t. They were silent then, and they’re pretending now.”
Koon, along with Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey and Saluda County Sheriff Josh Price, formally endorsed the hopeful’s bid for governor two weeks after it launched.
“Alan Wilson has always had our back. He’s tough on crime, a true supporter of law enforcement, and exactly the kind of leader we need in the governor’s office,” Koon said.
Attacks on office’s prosecution record
For months, Mace had been calling Wilson soft on crime, even saying he’s let pedophiles off the hook. Mace also accused Wilson of not prosecuting a case she brought forward accusing her ex-fiance and three others of sex crimes and voyeurism. That case is under investigation by SLED and has not been referred the attorney general’s office.
“These are categorically false and they’re slanderous,” Wilson said. “I stand with the victims rights community. I stand with law enforcement and saying that people out there who are attacking me, they’re not just attacking me, they’re attacking the men and women who stand behind me in trying to protect victims, who try to provide justice to those families who so richly deserve it.”
On May 10, Mace unleashed a series of posts on social media saying the attorney general’s office was not moving on cases involving people accused of sex crimes against children, or saying those with guilty pleas receiving light sentences.
Mace posted about 10 cases that day. Five of the cases are still pending years after charges were filed, three of the cases led to guilty pleas with sentences below the maximum, and two cases charges were dropped, which includes one because of a death in the case, according to online court records.
“So many cases ‘prosecuted’ by SC Attorney General Alan Wilson to expose, so little time,” Mace posted. “We will never get to all of the injustices and corruption. It’s really something to behold, what he’s been doing, and not doing, all these years.”
Judges decide what type of penalty or jail time to impose in cases, and have the option of deciding whether sentences on multiple charges are served concurrently or consecutively, whether a sentence is suspended. Prosecutors can recommend sentences.
The attorney general’s office handles 7,000 to 8,000 cases at any one time. Since Wilson took office, the attorney general’s Internet Crimes Against Children has made just under 3,000 arrests.
“These are critics who don’t really fully understand the criminal justice system, or if they do understand the criminal justice system, they’re purposefully lying about the outcomes in certain cases,” Wilson told reporters Thursday. “Somebody can go back and look at the tens of thousands of cases where we have prosecuted, put people away, and they can cherry pick cases that on paper look bad and they can omit the context.”
Still as attacks from Mace came in the months leading up to Wilson’s launch, he mostly refrained from directly hitting back, instead responding when asked about it publicly in county party meetings or appearances. He often only referred to Mace as “that person” or “that individual.”
Even while speaking to reporters on the night of his kickoff, Wilson indicated he didn’t plan to directly engage with Mace.
“I’m going to focus all of my energies on talking about what I’m going to do for the people of South Carolina. I’m not running against someone. I’m running for something, and that is to lead this state,” Wilson said.
