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by DAVID PASCOE
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I read Mr. David Stumbo‘s editorial on this media outlet last week. It started with the first line of a joke… and ended with a punch line as weak as his record.
The race for Attorney General of South Carolina is not a joke. In fact, I believe it is the most important race on the ballot. Our next AG must be a fighter who is willing to fight corruption at the State House, ensure transparency and accountability at every level of government, and stand up to the good ol’ boy cabal of lawyer-legislators that run this state.
Stumbo is the epitome of a good ol’ boy. His career can be defined by a legacy of backing down from fights and showing mercy to those who don’t deserve it. Now, his legacy has a new chapter. This month, credible allegations have been made that Stumbo is using his office (and your taxpayer dollars) to illegally enrich himself. Allegations that are substantive enough to warrant an investigation by the South Carolina Ethics Commission, which is ongoing.
Mr. Stumbo’s attacks on me last week reeked of desperation because he knows his campaign is flailing. Normally, I would ignore this nuisance. If I responded to every stupid attack made against me, I’d never get anything done. His letter, however, was different. Different because it proves David Stumbo is unworthy and incapable of being Attorney General.
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Over the last four years, I’ve traveled and talked to Republican Party and conservative groups in every corner of this state to discuss the corruption at the State House and the need for judicial reform. During those meetings, I’ve had the pleasure of hearing and reciting the Republican Creed. I love it, because many lines relate to my role as a prosecutor.
“I do not choose to be a common man.”
“I will not trade freedom for beneficence.”
“I will never cower before any master, save my God.”
“It is my heritage to stand… unafraid.”
A prosecutor’s duty is to enforce the laws and ensure no one is above the law. A righteous prosecutor must always be willing to stand up to corruption, no matter the difficulties that lay ahead. David Stumbo? He cowers to the powerful and the special interests.
Stumbo was asked to lead the investigation in 2014 of the most powerful man in the State, Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell. Instead, he turned it down and joined the chorus of other (now retired or convicted) solicitors saying it was a “hornet’s nest.”
He was right. I have the stings and scars to prove it.
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Going after legislators is not for the faint of heart, but turning my back on the state I love was never an option for me. Stumbo ran away from the call of duty when South Carolina needed him most.
He traded his “freedom” to do the right thing for “beneficence.”
He “cowered” to the most powerful.
He did not “stand unafraid.”
If it was up to Mr. Stumbo, the powerful legislators I convicted and removed from office would still be in power today.
However, his lack of courage doesn’t just apply to the State House Corruption Probe. In fact, his refusal to take on challenging cases is a pattern that he continues to display in the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
I receive calls, texts, and emails daily from the citizens and law enforcement in the 8th Circuit complaining about Mr. Stumbo. He knows it. His attempt to compare his record to mine would be offensive if it wasn’t laughable.
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First, I didn’t give a murderer a 35-year sentence. I convicted a defendant of murder, despite their diminished mental capacity. The judge sentenced the defendant after two weeks of deliberation, not me. He knows that fact.
I refuse to be lectured by a prosecutor who has dropped the death penalty on every death penalty case he’s ever had to prosecute.
One of the first things Mr. Stumbo did after getting elected Solicitor was to drop the death penalty on someone that his predecessor filed it on. A defendant who stabbed an elderly man to death.
Then, there is William Ryan Looper.
Looper raped, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy.
I’ve spoken to law enforcement who were involved in this case. All of them said the same thing.
“This was the worst crime scene I’ve ever encountered.”
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I have never personally criticized Mr. Stumbo for not asking a judge or jury to send Looper to the executioner despite the fact that is exactly what Looper deserves. In fact, Jenn Wood did a very fair and balanced piece weeks ago that leaves reasonable minds with differing opinions. It is very rare that I ever criticize the decision of a judge or prosecutor because we don’t always have every fact in the decision. Today, however, I am critical of Mr. Stumbo’s actions after the William Ryan Looper plea deal and what appears to be revisionist history on his part.
Mr. Stumbo states that he entered this plea deal so that he could go after Looper’s father, who also abuses children. Stumbo also claims that law enforcement was advocating for a plea deal. A claim that has been contradicted by the members of the force that I’ve recently spoken to.
The Laurens County Sheriff’s Office charged the elder William Harold Looper (Ryan Looper’s father) with crimes carrying a potential sentence of over 100 years. The elder Looper was charged with buggery and criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The sheriff’s office wanted to make sure he would spend the rest of his life rotting in prison.
So, how did Solicitor David Stumbo deal with the person who started the cycle of abuse that led to a dead child? He cut him a plea deal too. Not only that, but the elder Looper is also eligible for parole NEXT MONTH.
That is not a tough-on-crime conservative prosecutor he champions to be.
In his piece, Mr. Stumbo also asserts some self-righteousness about not getting as many campaign donations from trial lawyers as me, but that is not true. In fact, a high percentage of his donors are criminal defense attorneys who have criminal cases in his office.
Interestingly, while Mr. Stumbo was campaigning around the state visiting criminal defense attorneys in May, June, and July of 2025, he was also giving himself a “mileage allowance” from his office account. This is the most serious problem that I have with Mr. Stumbo.
Mr. Stumbo has not denied the serious allegation of either signing checks to himself or directing his office to make payments to him from an office account in the amount of $36,700 as an allowance.
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If true, it is a blatant violation of state law. In fact, public officials have been convicted for directing less money to themselves. A lot less money. In his statement about the ethics complaint, he says that putting nearly $37,000 in his bank account saved his taxpayer’s money. That’s not only a stupid thing to think, it’s also not a defense. In fact, it raises many more questions about these payments.
Did Stumbo pay taxes on the allowance?
Why was he receiving this alleged unlawful allowance while driving out of town picking up checks at defense attorneys’ offices?
There are defendants indicted for similar circumstances being prosecuted presently by the AG’s Office. Would he prosecute those cases if AG?
Mr. Stumbo’s lack of humility is stunning if he did indeed take an allowance from his office, as is currently being investigated. He needs to refund the taxpayer dollars that he collected back to the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and apologize to the citizens of Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry counties.
I have been a prosecutor for 33 years. In that time, I’ve put evil men on death row; prosecuted corruption at every level of government; and initiated the Republican fight for judicial reform over four years ago. I have proven that I will fight for our state.
South Carolina’s next Attorney General must be a tough-on-crime prosecutor that is not willing, but excited, to take on the good ole’ boys and crush corruption at the State House and across our state. That is not David Stumbo.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
David Pascoe is solicitor for South Carolina’s first judicial circuit, which includes Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties. He is a Republican candidate for attorney general of the Palmetto State.
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