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by DAVID STUMBO
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It sounds like the setup to a joke. But this year, every other candidate running for South Carolina Attorney General is pretending to be something they are not.
First, there is David Pascoe: the Democrat pretending to be a Republican. Just months before switching parties, Pascoe endorsed Heather Bauer, a candidate who marched to defund the police, opposes ICE, and voted to transition children. He shared the stage on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and shared the ticket with Kamala Harris against president Donald Trump in the last election. He has called Joe Biden a “role model.” But he is now trying to convince everyone that he didn’t vote for any of them? Pascoe has even told audiences that if people want to call him a Republican-In-Name-Only, it “doesn’t bother him a bit.”
Then there is Stephen Goldfinch: the politician pretending to be a prosecutor. Senator Goldfinch opened his own recent Op-ed on this outlet with the words, “As a prosecutor…” Senator Goldfinch has served honorably in the State Senate and in the Guard, and those contributions deserve respect. But the fact remains: he has never prosecuted a single criminal case under South Carolina law. Voters deserve to know the difference between a politician who talks about crime and a prosecutor who has spent a career fighting it.
And then there is me, David Stumbo: a career prosecutor who would much rather be in a courtroom fighting crime than be a politician on a campaign trail. My life’s work has not been climbing a ladder to a higher office. It has been a higher calling – in the trenches with law enforcement, putting violent criminals behind bars, and standing beside victims and their families on the worst days of their lives.
Recent quarterly campaign filings make these differences even more clear.
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FOLLOW THE MONEY
Where a candidate’s money comes from tells voters a great deal about who that candidate will stand with once elected.
David Pascoe’s campaign is being fueled by support connected to the same national trial lawyer interests that critics have labeled the “Shady Eight” – a network of politically connected mega-firms that have collected massive taxpayer-funded contingency fees across the country while pouring millions into liberal campaigns and causes designed to protect their influence. When John Morgan is hosting a fundraiser for David Pascoe, South Carolina Republicans should ask a simple question: why are these interests so heavily invested in this race?
The answer is not complicated. The Attorney General’s office carries enormous authority over lawsuits, settlements, and legal policy. Out-of-state liberal trial lawyer money is rarely given without expectations attached.
Senator Goldfinch has his own history with this lobby. Over the years, he has benefited from fifteen maximum contributions from the South Carolina trial lawyer association PAC and affiliated PACs. That concern is especially relevant coming out of our recent tort reform fight – a fight in which South Carolina’s job creators, restaurants, and small businesses asked lawmakers for basic fairness in a legal climate too often tilted toward lawsuit abuse, while the entrenched special interests fought to preserve the status quo.
FITSNews recently reported on one amendment in that debate.
“The Goldfinch amendment – a Trojan horse that would have allowed juries to assign fault to non-parties while shielding certain defendants – failed on a 25–19 vote.” it noted.
A Trojan horse. Voters can draw their own conclusions.
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RELATED | FEDS INVESTIGATING S.C. LEGISLATIVE CORRUPTION
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THE ATTACKS, AND THE HYPOCRACY
Character matters more in the Attorney General’s office than perhaps any other position in state government. That is what makes the attacks and hypocrisy in this race so disappointing.
Consider the record: my office secured a life-without-parole sentence in a horrific capital murder case, and then used that conviction to reach back in time and put the child abuser who created the killer behind bars too. David Pascoe calls that outcome “letting a rapist off death row.”
This is the same David Pascoe who allowed a plea with just a thirty-five year sentence to a mother who suffocated her two young children. That child-killer will be walking free in 19 years, and now he wants to lecture South Carolinians about being tough on crime.
My opposition has also attacked a common-sense, taxpayer-saving decision – a clear attempt to distract from their own records. Yes, I used my personal vehicle as my work vehicle, rather than sticking our people with the more expensive bill for a new government-owned SUV that is purchased, insured, maintained, and fueled by the taxpayers. I will not apologize for saving tax dollars while being a proactive, hands-on leader across our circuit. Year after year, we have continued to do more with less than any other solicitor in the state.
I understand that mindset is foreign to people who use trial-lawyer donations for private planes or those who launch deceptive political attacks from their dark money-fueled PACs.
South Carolinians can see the difference.
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RELATED | CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS FLY
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THE CLEAR CHOICE
I have always been a conservative Republican. I voted for President Trump in 2016, in 2020, and in 2024. I stand with his America First agenda of law and order, secure borders, constitutional rights, and putting American people ahead of special interests.
I am also a lifelong criminal prosecutor. I have spent my career putting violent criminals behind bars, standing up for victims, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and women of law enforcement to keep South Carolina families safe.
That is the kind of Attorney General our state needs: someone grounded in conservative principles and tested in the courtroom – not politicians beholden to liberal special interests, or those reinventing themselves for an election year.
This race offers a clear choice. A pro-Trump career prosecutor backed by sheriffs, solicitors, victim advocates, and conservative grassroots Republicans – or candidates funded by liberal trial lawyer interests who hope voters will not notice the strings attached.
South Carolina Republicans know the difference. I trust them to choose wisely on June 9th.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
David Stumbo is a lifelong conservative Republican, career criminal prosecutor and the pro-Trump, pro-Law and Order candidate for South Carolina attorney general.
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