Goldfinch presented case to remove SC Treasurer. He says it may be a liability
State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch initially did not want to be one of the presenters of the case to remove South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis over an accounting error, he told The State.
Goldfinch, in an wide-ranging interview the day after launching his bid to become attorney general, said he only served as a presenter because state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, and Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, wanted him to be one of the senators who would make the argument to the full Senate of why Loftis should be ousted from office.
“I didn’t want to do it. In fact, I asked not to do it. Sen. Grooms insisted that I do it, and Sen. Alexander insisted that I do it, and so I did it. It was a duty, and I felt honor bound, sort of, to do it, because I knew I probably knew the most about it,” said Goldfinch, a Georgetown County Republican.
Grooms and Goldfinch played the role of defacto prosecutors putting them on camera for multiple hours of the daylong hearing in the Senate chambers.
Goldfinch, who is now seeking to be the state’s top prosecutor, also serves a Judge Advocate General officer in the Army National guard and has previous prosecutorial experience.
Removing Loftis from office could have been seen as a big win for Goldfinch.
Now Goldfinch is running statewide and winning a Republican primary may include making a case to Upstate voters who are loyal to Loftis.
“Quite frankly, I thought it was a political liability rather than a political help, and it still might be a political liability,” Goldfinch said.
Goldfinch has pointed out Loftis has been traveling around the state and has made appearances, including in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, with First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who also is considering a run for attorney general.
The state Senate voted 33-8 in April to oust Loftis from office for willful neglect of duty over a $1.8 billion accounting error where most of the money did not exist. The House has opted not to move forward with the resolution to remove Loftis.
Goldfinch was a member of the subcommittee that investigated the state’s yearslong accounting issues, first the $3.5 billion accounting error and then the $1.8 billion accounting error.
While sitting on the panel, Goldfinch was a tough questioner of both former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom and Loftis in recent years over the accounting issues. He even had contentious interactions with Loftis.
“He was just a natural one,” said Grooms, R-Berkeley, who led the Senate panel that investigated the state’s accounting issues.
Grooms told The State he had staff initially approach Goldfinch about being one the presenters, and let him think about it for a week.
“I let them feel him out, and then let him think on it. I didn’t want to flat out ask him and put him on the spot. When I officially asked him, I already knew he would. It took him a little while to coming around to letting them know he would say yes if I asked,” Grooms said.
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
