05/31/2026
Closing Argument: The AG Race - It’s Pascoe. . .and here’s why
Tl;dr (because this promises to be a bit lengthy): In the race for the Republican nomination for SC Attorney General, the York County GOP (YCGOP) endorses David Pascoe For AG. If you support one of the other two candidates, then you are either:
1. Misinformed (no shame in that, we ALL are, to one degree or another), OR
2. Benefitting from the corruption in our state politics, OR
3. There is no 3rd option – see #'s 1 & 2.
Those who have been following the YCGOP for a while are aware that we hold the opinion that this 2026 election cycle is the most consequential in the state of SC for generations. And, as the Republican Party is so dominant (all statewide offices, super majorities in both houses), the Republican Primaries, in particular, are critical in setting the direction for our state.
There are, of course, many competitive Republican Primaries this year, but of the statewide races we believe that the Attorney General race stands alone in importance. The Senate race is important, but more so at the federal level. Governor’s race? Also important, though that office is constitutionally limited in its powers. However, the AG race – well, that office can bring indictments, and as we saw with The Quinndom Scandal (more on that below), indictments change behavior.
One more preliminary note before discussing the candidates. Our state, while a wonderful place to live, work and retire, has great room for improvement. And the one thing that is holding us back from that improvement is a political class that is all too happy to see our state (local, too!) government grow at rates that exceed inflation and population growth. And the more the government grows, the less freedom we have. By many measures, in fact, South Carolina is the MOST LIBERAL red state! This is because our elected officials tend to be beholden to the moneyed interests. And at the top of the list of influential interests is the trial lawyers’ lobby. It is an open secret that the lobbying groups have a corrupting influence on our politics (which is NOT to say that South Carolina is unique in this regard – we are not).
While there are many important issues facing our state, we in YCGOP believe that the corrupting influence of the moneyed interests on our politics is THE MOST IMPORTANT. All other issues are downstream from that. This, of course, informs our opinion in this race.
THE CANDIDATES:
There are 3 candidates vying for this nomination. They are:
- Stephen Goldfinch, Jr., State Senator representing District 34,
- David Stumbo, 8th Circuit Solicitor (12 years), and
- David Pascoe, 1st Circuit Solicitor (21 years)
Stephen Goldfinch, Jr. – his platform emphasizes law and order, limited government and resisting federal overreach. These are all popular positions, especially for one seeking the top law enforcement job in the state. His detractors point out that while he is an attorney, he has no experience as a solicitor. His legal practice areas include:
- Criminal Defense (!)
- Personal Injury
- Business & Real Estate, and
- Family & Estate
David Stumbo – his platform emphasizes reducing Medicaid fraud, prosecuting gang violence and reforming the SC judicial selection process. Again, these are popular positions. His detractors note that, although he has 14 years’ experience as a solicitor, at no time during that tenure has he led any political corruption cases.
David Pascoe David Pascoe For AG – his platform focuses on “crime, children, and CRUSHING CORRUPTION.” And while he’s the only candidate to put men on death row (and send a cop killer to the firing squad!), please take note of that third item of the platform. For those who do not know and might be thinking that Pascoe is simply saying what some might want to hear re: corruption, he was the lead Special Counsel in the Quinndom Scandal (from 2013-2021) which gained pleas and convictions of several state lawmakers and their ‘influencers.’ SITTING LAWMAKERS who were convicted or pled guilty and resigned:
- Bobby Harrell (House Speaker!) – pled guilty to 6 counts, resigned. Judge ordered probation (prosecution requested jail time).
- Rick Quinn, Jr. (House member) – pled guilty, resigned. Probation (ditto).
- Jim Merrill (House Majority Leader) – pled guilty, resigned. Probation (ditto).
- John Courson (Senator) - pled guilty, resigned. Probation (ditto).
- Jim Harrison (House member) – convicted by jury. 18 months in prison. Lost law license
This investigation/prosecution is the ONLY corruption probe of significance in SC since Operation Lost Trust in the 1990’s which resulted in convictions of:
- 17 members of the SC General Assembly
- 7 lobbyists
- 1 judge and 2 executive branch officials
Operation Lost Trust was led, it should be noted, NOT by state or local officials, but by the FBI.
In short, our state has a long and sordid history of political corruption and there is only ONE MAN in this race for AG with a history of prosecuting it.
Ok, here’s the part you’ve been waiting for – what do his detractors say??? The primary criticism of Pascoe is that up until early 2025 he was a Democrat – and this is true. He ran as a Democrat in a heavily Democrat District and (gasp!) he said Democrat things (like support for Joe Biden’s candidacy in 2020). There is a whole cottage industry out there of variations on this theme, but they all, essentially, boil down to that – including in a recent post by our favorite president, Donald John Trump!
Here are a few points to consider:
1. Actions speak louder than words. Pascoe has had the courage to prosecute sitting legislators for corruption. Since we in the YCGOP believe that political corruption is the GREATEST THREAT to our freedoms in this state, we consider it of little importance what statements he might have made in the past out of political expediency. NO ONE ELSE in this race has this prosecution record.
2. But Trump said! Yup. Greatest President in my lifetime (and I’m old!) criticized Pascoe in a post on 5/21 for being a former Democrat. I’d put DJT in category #1 above (misinformed – by whom? Best guess, Lindsey Graham who also hates Pascoe because LG’s consultant got caught up in the Quinndom Scandal!). Also, irony of ironies – DJT’s personal attorney who is now the Acting AG, Todd Blanche was HIMSELF a Dem up unit 2024! And, finally, Reagan was a Dem, so was Trump, and RFK, Jr. and Tulsi.
3. But Pascoe only prosecuted Republicans! Mostly, but not entirely true. Democrat Marvin Pendarvis was forced to resign from office due to a prosecution brought by Pascoe. Otherwise, it is true that most of his corruption prosecutions were brought against Republicans. However, when the entire state is run by Republicans and you’re going to prosecute political corruption, who would you THINK is going to be the target?
Well, there you have it – the long(!) and short of why David Pascoe has the YCGOP’s complete and unqualified endorsement for the Republican Nomination for Attorney General.
Scott Anderson, Chairman
York County GOP
LATE BREAKING: A number of our elected officials in York County have just recently come out to endorse Stephen Goldfinch in this race. Given that Mr. Goldfinch:
1. Has no experience as a Solicitor,
2. Has made his living defending criminals (!!!),
3. As Senator has helped to put soft-on-crime judges on the bench, and
4. As Senator has a very liberal, low-country voting record
These endorsements do beg the question: Which category are these officials in?
