Goldfinch announces run for Attorney General, back pedals on presenting case to remove SC Treasurer Loftis: "I didn't want to do it."

POLITICS: ELECTION 2026: S.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE: POTENTIAL CANDIDATES

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R- Georgetown announces he's 
running for S.C. Attorney General in 2026. He is the first candidate 
to make an official announcement. Several others say they are considering. 
(Photo: Facebook)

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, wants to be your attorney general. He also wants you to know he didn’t want to present the case to remove South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis. He was begged to, forced almost!

“I didn’t want to do it. In fact, I asked not to do it. Sen. Grooms insisted that I do it, and Sen Alexander insisted that I do it, and so I did it. It was my duty, and I felt honor bound, sort of, to do it, because I knew I probably knew the most about it, Goldfinch is quoted by Joe Bustos in the State Paper. “Quite frankly, I thought it was a political liability rather than a political help, and it still might be a political liability.”

I’ve always liked Goldfinch, but I’ve lost some respect for him. I’d respect him more if he’d just own it instead of back pedal.

Goldfinch is the first candidate to announce his campaign to fill the seat Allan Wilson is vacating for a run for Governor. Wilson has held the seat for 16 years.

Others that may be running

First Judicial Solicitor David Pascoe speaks
to the Richland County Republican Party at 
their monthly meeting June 30. Pascoe is 
considering a run for attorney general. 
(Photo by: Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner)

David Pascoe, the First Judicial Circuit solicitor, has indicated he might run after recently leaving the Democrat Party to turn Republican. Pascoe has been making the rounds at Republican party events around the state and has been seen making stops with SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis in Myrtle Beach and Georgetown.

Pascoe spoke to the Richland County Republican Party June 30 saying he is “the anti-corruption” prosecutor with a “conservative record on crime” and was the first prosecutor in the state to lobby for bringing back “execution by firing squad.”


Others considering a run are Attorney Henry D. McMaster Jr., the son of Governor Henry McMaster, is currently a lawyer in Columbia at Collins and Lacy. McMaster previously worked as an assistant solicitor in the 6^th Judicial Circuit.

Solicitor David Stumbo, Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor, who spoke alongside the current attorney general’s call for judicial reform in 2023. He has been a solicitor for more 12 years and previously worked as an assistant deputy attorney general. The eighth circuit covers Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry counties.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters, the chief attorney of the state grand jury section and senior assistant deputy attorney general of South Carolina is also considering a run for attorney general. He has worked in the attorney general’s office since 1998. Waters was also the top prosecutor in the Alex Murdaugh case