by MARK POWELL
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Ever since 2011, Alan Wilson’s name has appeared on the letterhead of the South Carolina attorney general’s office letterhead. Come next January, David Stumbo’s name will replace it.
The S.C. eighth circuit solicitor brushed aside Democratic challenger Richard Hricik on Tuesday evening (November 3, 2026) – securing 1,054,687 votes (or 52.39% of all ballots cast). Hricik received 957,175 votes (or 47.55% of all ballots cast).
The win capped off a year of intense campaigning for Stumbo. He had initially faced a seemingly formidable primary challenge in Democrat-turned-Republican first circuit solicitor David Pascoe. But Stumbo easily dispatched him in the GOP primary – going on to best rival Stephen Goldfinch by 11.5% in the GOP runoff two weeks later.
It was largely smooth sailing for him from there…
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“The attorney general’s office has real power to fight public corruption, stop fraud, and protect your tax dollars,” he wrote in a guest column on FITSNews earlier this year. “I intend to use it, and to run the office the same way I have run mine: lean, accountable, and focused on results instead of headlines.
For his part, Hrick ran on his more than thirty years of legal experience, including fighting big corporations in both state and federal courts. He had promised an agenda guided by making sure the rule of law applied equally to everyone, big or small, and vigorously prosecuting criminals he called the “bad guys,” be they violent criminals or sophisticated scammers.
Legal observers will be watching to see if Stumbo moves quickly and gives the attorney general’s office its first substantial makeover in sixteen years, or keeps much of Wilson’s senior team in place.
Stumbo also inherits responsibility over the ‘Retrial of the Century’ in South Carolina – the second trial of accused killer Alex Murdaugh.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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