Party history, experience. Does Stumbo check GOP voter boxes in SC AG’s race?
David Stumbo in a way has been preparing for a run to be the state’s top prosecutor for years.
He had two stints in the attorney general’s office, worked as an assistant solicitor in Lexington County, and was first elected as the 8th Judicial Circuit Solicitor in 2012.
Now he’s stepped into a statewide run for the GOP nomination for attorney general. He joins the Republican race that includes state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, and 1st Judicial Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe. Henry D. McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, is still considering a run.
The next attorney general will succeed Alan Wilson, who is running for governor.
Stumbo, whose judicial circuit includes Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens and Newberry counties, is the candidate who lives closest to the GOP vote rich Upstate. Goldfinch is from Georgetown County near the Grand Strand, and Pascoe is from Orangeburg County.
Stumbo is pitching himself as someone who could check off the key boxes GOP voters may look for in the state’s next top prosecutor.
“I’ve always been a conservative, always been a Republican, and always been a prosecutor who delivers convictions that stick.” Stumbo said in his kickoff speech.
In the field is Pascoe who prosecuted corruption in the state house and had convictions that led to defendants receiving the death penalty. But he also switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party earlier this year before launching a statewide run. Goldfinch, is judge advocate general in the National Guard giving him prosecutor experience, while his law firm focuses on civil, criminal, estate and probate litigation.
“Looking historically, most of the candidates for attorney general in previous races had similar backgrounds and similar issues they would fight no matter who they were. It came down to who was most well known and who was most well liked among the candidates,” said Alex Stroman, a former S.C. GOP executive director not working for any campaign this cycle.
It’s a dynamic that may repeat itself in this race, which is overshadowed by the race for governor.
Every candidate will probably have similar levels of name recognition across the state, so having low negatives will be helpful.
“Name ID is one thing, but negatives are more important. You can always fix name ID, by running TV ads, radio ads, etc,” Stroman said. “But it’s really hard to reverse someone’s opinion they don’t like you.”
Stumbo may show he has the most connections toward this role from over the years. He worked in the attorney general’s office for five years under now Gov. Henry McMaster, as the head prosecutor for the internet crimes against children taskforce.
When Stumbo and Wilson were in the attorney general’s office under McMaster, they worked on a case together they still talk about today.
Wilson led prosecution of a case involving a woman who when she was a teenager was sexually abused by her grandfather who also was a retired police officer. After the trial, the woman’s grandfather was convicted. Stumbo assisted in the prosecution as the second chair.
“That young lady came up with us after the trial and said, for the first time in my life, I don’t feel like a victim anymore. I feel like I’m a survivor,” Stumbo told the Lexington County GOP earlier this month.
Stumbo worked in the 11th Judicial Circuit, which includes Lexington County, as an assistant solicitor.
“I did everything from murders to armed robberies, drug trafficking. I can’t remember the number of meth labs I prosecuted down in like Swansea and Gaston,” Stumbo said. “I had a ton of them. (There was) a little bit of everything that I was able to do.”
Stumbo returned to the state attorney general’s office after Wilson was elected. Stumbo supervised the state grand jury cases and worked on major drug cases and public corruption cases before leaving to run to be solicitor in the 8th Judicial Circuit.
Now, Goldfinch, Pascoe and Stumbo will have to find a way to distinguish themselves in a race that could end up in a runoff, if all three end up filing in March to be on the June primary ballot.
“Republican primary voters first and foremost want an office that runs well. I think they want someone with prosecutorial experience, which it seems all the candidates have. They want someone who understands state law, and it seems all three of the candidates do,” Stroman said.
