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 

Goldfinch considers run for attorney general; lifetime record of fighting the bureaucratic ran agency

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, District 34, speaks
at the Richland County Republican Party monthly meeting Monday
evening and said he is exploring a run for attorney general next year. 
(Photo by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner)

Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
May 20, 2025

COLUMBIA, S.C. (PE) – South Carolina State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, District 34, spoke to members of the Richland County Republican Party at their monthly meeting Monday night in Columbia telling them he’s considering a run for attorney general.

“I’m not hiding the ball. I’m obviously exploring the idea of attorney general,” Goldfinch told the group when asked if he was considering seeking a higher office. “My whole life has really been dedicated to fighting government and bureaucracy, and I think I can be an effective agent of change at the attorney general’s office if I’m blessed to be there.”

The former biomedical entrepreneur turned lawyer has been a long-time activist against government overreach and for state’s rights saying it is the fight against the “nameless, faceless, bureaucrat” ran agency state that got him involved in politics.

“I began a commercial spear fishing business when I was 16 years old. You know what I found out when I was 16 years old? Government is terrible,” said Goldfinch. “In everything I’ve done form beginning to end you run into one head wind after another with government.  One bureaucracy after another. One faceless, nameless bureaucrat after another that wants nothing more than to ruin you and your business. And will use the power of the government and all its infinite resources to ruin you and your business. That’s why I got into this political realm.”

Before law school and politics, Goldfinch got a degree in biochemistry at The Citadel and started a biomedical tech company that used umbilical cord stem cells for therapy and research. He sold that company at the age of 24, but not without government bureaucracy induced headaches.

“When I went to sell that company, same thing, government headwinds, bureaucracy, nameless faceless bureaucrats standing in the way of somebody trying to be an entrepreneur,” said Goldfinch.

After the company’s sale, Goldfinch decided he was going to be a lawyer. He went to law school, graduated and passed the bar exam. His first month at his desk, Goldfinch said he had a client come in wanting to sue the state of South Carolina who had placed a cease in desist order from state environmental regulators on a dock he was building on his property that he had already sunk $150,000 into.

“I started doing what they teach you in law school, Goldfinch said. “Something in my head clicked and said, this is that daggum government again.”

Two weeks later the house representative in Goldfinch’s district decided to retire, and he decided to run.

“I knew it right off the bat that I needed to get involved, because quite frankly I hated the government,” he said. “They had stymied me. They had stymied my friends. They had stymied my family. Every step of the way every time you start to get ahead, they pull you back just a little bit. It’s the nameless faceless bureaucrat that constantly stymies innovation in America and even right here in freedom loving South Carolina.”

Goldfinch says no matter what he decides, he’ll continue to fight the good fight against government overreach, and he enjoys what he does.

"I'm going to continue to fight for that in every career move, every political move, every legal move that I make,” Goldfinch said. “I fight the government for a living. That's literally what I do. It's called administrative law. And I'm going to continue to do that until the day that I die. It needs to be done, and honestly, I like doing it. It excites me a little bit to do it.”

Goldfinch also voiced his concern about the next state’s attorney’s general ability to fight the “unelected’ and “unaccounted for” “agency state” or “deep state.”

“Do we have a state’s attorney general in place ready to go to enforce federalism in South Carolina? Do we have a state’s attorney general in South Carolina ready to go to sue the federal government to enforce our state’s rights? That’s a really super important role y’all, Goldfinch proclaimed. “It may not be on the top of everyone’s mind today. It’s going to be on top of everyone’s mind in 2028 or 2029.”

Other names have been tossed around to fill the state’s top prosecutor spot as current Attorney General Alan Wilson talks of succeeding Gov. Henry McMaster next year, among them is 1^st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe who recently flipped his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.  

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About the Author: 

Tony Spain is a U.S. Army veteran with combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, an entrepreneur businessman, former candidate for Richland County Council 2020 and an award winning former military photographer and journalist while in the Public Affairs Office for the U.S. Army. His photos and writing have been published in numerous publications such as The Commercial News, Danville, Ill.; The Paraglide, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Soldier of Fortune Magazine; The State Newspaper, Columbia, S.C., and more.

Tony and his wife, Chauna, live in Columbia, S.C.

What Say You? Got something you'd like to say? Letter to the Editor (Guest Column), praises, criticism, hate mail, news story tip or just want to say, howdy. Send them to Tony@palmettoexaminer.com