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| Attorney General Alan Wilson (left) and U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Mace, SC-01, (Right) are the current frontrunners in the Republican primary for governor. |
Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
August 28, 2025
I haven’t picked a dog in the fight for the republican nomination for South Carolina Governor, but I know which dogs it won’t be, and I know the two dogs I’m leaning toward, but I’m still undecided with no dog in the fight yet.
I will tell you it won’t be either of the two top dogs in the race, U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Mace and Attorney General Alan Wilson who continue to fight like two rabid dogs.
The latest biting comes after an active shooter false alarm at the University of South Carolina. The top prosecutor in the state was highly critical of Mace for what he called a “reckless” commentary on social media about what has now been deemed a “swatting hoax” by the University of South Carolina police.
While the news broke and police rushed to the scene to secure the area and search for a shooter, social media was exploding with information as it does by its very nature.
In fact, the first information I received about the situation was at approximately 6:40 p.m. was from a friend on Facebook who works as a chef at the University posting, active shooter on Campus of USC, my team is hiding in the walk-in cooler. Not a drill.
Others on social media posted photos and videos of astudent carrying an umbrella mistaken by many as a long gun.
Mace, who has a child that attends the University of South Carolina referenced this individual on her social media page as the situation unfolded.
Wilson’s
campaign highly criticized her for the social media posts calling it “a
reckless pattern of behavior that undermines both public safety and respect for
the law.”
“If Nancy Mace truly stood for law and order, she’d act like it,” Wilson’s deputy campaign manager Claire Brady said in a press release from Wilson’s campaign. “Instead, on Sunday, she doxed an innocent college student during an active shooting hoax unnecessarily putting the student in harms way.”
The press release goes on to criticize Mace further.
“While Mace was doxxing innocent students carrying an umbrella, Alan Wilson was on the phone with law enforcement, university officials, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, working to keep people safe and ensure accurate information was shared”
Mace addressed the swatting hoax on Sunday evening.
“As the mom of a student at USC, tonight was terrifying. Frantically calling my child to see if they were at the library or barricaded somewhere else on campus, making sure they and their roommates were safe, your heart just drops to the ground, for a minute you can’t breathe. I am eternally grateful for law enforcement from every agency who immediately went to work to protect our kids,” said Mace. “The security at USC are trained by the FBI, and watching this an many other videos, that much is evident. They were swift, they were professional, and they were fast. And the students, sharing information to protect each other, being vigilant, was pretty incredible to watch too. God bless each and every one!”
So, basically, Wilson was doing his job he was elected to do as Attorney General and Mace was being a concerned mother.
Also, it’s important to notice the order of events and the details here. The two phone calls to police about an active shooter came before the video. The police were not called because of the video of a student carrying an umbrella mistaken for a rifle. There were several videos taken by others after the active shooter situation had been announced by Carolina Alert.
About an hour later, Carolina Alert, gave a description of the shooter as “a white male with black pants, approximately 6 feet tall and still in the area.” It is not clear if the description came from the video of the student wearing black shorts walking with the umbrella or if the video was taken after the description was released by Carolina Alert. Either way it’s not like Mace took the video herself and released it.
Wilson’s campaign also accused Mace of not respecting the law by parking in a handicap spot during a campaign stop in the same press release.
“On Monday she parked her official vehicle in a handicapped spot to give herself VIP access at a campaign event,” Claire said in the release. “Nancy Mace claims she stands for law and order, but her actions show she can’t be trusted.”
As expected, Mace’s campaign is not going to take the attack. Spokeswoman Sydney Long for Team Mace said her vehicle was parked in a handicapped spot because one of her campaign staffers has a permanent disability.
“The vehicle in question was parked in a handicapped space because a member of our team, who has a permanent disability license plate and status, was present,” Long said. “Maybe he should focus on prosecuting pedophiles and not attacking a disabled staffer for cheap political points.”
Mace’s disabled team member, Lisa McCulley, pushed back at Wilson as well.
“As a permanently disabled member of Team Mace, I am outraged that Alan Wilson would stoop so low as to attack Nancy Mace by weaponizing my disability,” McCulley posted on Facebook. “I live every day with a permanent disability and even have a disability plate that reflects that. It is disgraceful that the attorney general of this state doesn’t even grasp that not all disabilities are not visible.”
But this was not the beginning of this feud. Mace has been on the attack before either one of them announced their campaign for governor accusing Wilson as being soft on pedophiles as Attorney General bringing up several old cases that received plea bargain deals and light sentences.
August 28, 2025
I haven’t picked a dog in the fight for the republican nomination for South Carolina Governor, but I know which dogs it won’t be, and I know the two dogs I’m leaning toward, but I’m still undecided with no dog in the fight yet.
I will tell you it won’t be either of the two top dogs in the race, U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Mace and Attorney General Alan Wilson who continue to fight like two rabid dogs.
The latest biting comes after an active shooter false alarm at the University of South Carolina. The top prosecutor in the state was highly critical of Mace for what he called a “reckless” commentary on social media about what has now been deemed a “swatting hoax” by the University of South Carolina police.
While the news broke and police rushed to the scene to secure the area and search for a shooter, social media was exploding with information as it does by its very nature.
In fact, the first information I received about the situation was at approximately 6:40 p.m. was from a friend on Facebook who works as a chef at the University posting, active shooter on Campus of USC, my team is hiding in the walk-in cooler. Not a drill.
Others on social media posted photos and videos of astudent carrying an umbrella mistaken by many as a long gun.
Mace, who has a child that attends the University of South Carolina referenced this individual on her social media page as the situation unfolded.
“If Nancy Mace truly stood for law and order, she’d act like it,” Wilson’s deputy campaign manager Claire Brady said in a press release from Wilson’s campaign. “Instead, on Sunday, she doxed an innocent college student during an active shooting hoax unnecessarily putting the student in harms way.”
The press release goes on to criticize Mace further.
“While Mace was doxxing innocent students carrying an umbrella, Alan Wilson was on the phone with law enforcement, university officials, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, working to keep people safe and ensure accurate information was shared”
Mace addressed the swatting hoax on Sunday evening.
“As the mom of a student at USC, tonight was terrifying. Frantically calling my child to see if they were at the library or barricaded somewhere else on campus, making sure they and their roommates were safe, your heart just drops to the ground, for a minute you can’t breathe. I am eternally grateful for law enforcement from every agency who immediately went to work to protect our kids,” said Mace. “The security at USC are trained by the FBI, and watching this an many other videos, that much is evident. They were swift, they were professional, and they were fast. And the students, sharing information to protect each other, being vigilant, was pretty incredible to watch too. God bless each and every one!”
So, basically, Wilson was doing his job he was elected to do as Attorney General and Mace was being a concerned mother.
Also, it’s important to notice the order of events and the details here. The two phone calls to police about an active shooter came before the video. The police were not called because of the video of a student carrying an umbrella mistaken for a rifle. There were several videos taken by others after the active shooter situation had been announced by Carolina Alert.
About an hour later, Carolina Alert, gave a description of the shooter as “a white male with black pants, approximately 6 feet tall and still in the area.” It is not clear if the description came from the video of the student wearing black shorts walking with the umbrella or if the video was taken after the description was released by Carolina Alert. Either way it’s not like Mace took the video herself and released it.
Wilson’s campaign also accused Mace of not respecting the law by parking in a handicap spot during a campaign stop in the same press release.
“On Monday she parked her official vehicle in a handicapped spot to give herself VIP access at a campaign event,” Claire said in the release. “Nancy Mace claims she stands for law and order, but her actions show she can’t be trusted.”
As expected, Mace’s campaign is not going to take the attack. Spokeswoman Sydney Long for Team Mace said her vehicle was parked in a handicapped spot because one of her campaign staffers has a permanent disability.
“The vehicle in question was parked in a handicapped space because a member of our team, who has a permanent disability license plate and status, was present,” Long said. “Maybe he should focus on prosecuting pedophiles and not attacking a disabled staffer for cheap political points.”
Mace’s disabled team member, Lisa McCulley, pushed back at Wilson as well.
“As a permanently disabled member of Team Mace, I am outraged that Alan Wilson would stoop so low as to attack Nancy Mace by weaponizing my disability,” McCulley posted on Facebook. “I live every day with a permanent disability and even have a disability plate that reflects that. It is disgraceful that the attorney general of this state doesn’t even grasp that not all disabilities are not visible.”
But this was not the beginning of this feud. Mace has been on the attack before either one of them announced their campaign for governor accusing Wilson as being soft on pedophiles as Attorney General bringing up several old cases that received plea bargain deals and light sentences.
“Alan Wilson let a man who hoarded ch*ld p*rn, including images of toddlers having s*x with animals, cut a plea deal in 15 minutes and the guy only got one day in jail,” Mace posted about a case she’s referenced repeatedly of social media. “Alan Wilson drops the worst p*dophile charges and calls it justice. I call it protecting pedophiles.”
You can find criticism with a lot of things Wilson or any elected official has done that’s held elected office for a decade and a half, but being soft on pedos is not a criticism I’d choose. And Mace fails to mention that prosecutors don’t give sentencing, judges do. Wilson finally had had enough and responded to her criticism saying “enough is enough. I won’t allow someone to use lies, misinformation, and half truths (at best) to cast negative light on hardworking men and women of law enforcement.”
“Our objective is to indict, prosecute, and get them added to the Sex Offender Registry. Since I took office I’ve grown the (Internet Crimes Against Children) ICAC task force 4x its original size and executed just under 3,000 ICAC arrests,” Wilson said in a statement on social media. “When the would-be candidate for Governor criticizes the Attorney General’s Office, she’s purposefully omitting the fact judges give sentences, not prosecutors. When she criticizes prosecutors, she’s ignorant to the fact that often, our office is working in sync with federal agencies that can get more time.”
As recently as last week, Mace was back in attack dog mode going after Wilson again posting a video from a January event on social media alleging Wilson held the door open for law enforcement as they arrested a 78-year-old man for peacefully showing up to an Alan Wilson event. In the video, it appears Wilson just arrived at the event and is confused by what’s going on. You can watch it here.
In a separate Facebook post a day earlier Mace posted a photo of 78-year-old Skip Hoagland, the man arrested at the Wilson event.
“Constituents are bombarding my office with calls to say he is now sitting in jail for TWO WEEKS for peacefully showing up to an event for which they say he was an invited guest,” Mace posted. “We should not be JAILING people for showing up and peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights. If you didn’t know South Carolina’s justice system is being led by a corrupt AG. Here’s more proof. Wild.”
Palmetto Examiner has no idea what happened leading up to the arrest on the day in the video that took place in January, but he was found guilty of trespassing and sentenced to 15 days in jail. He was then released early after pressure from Mace and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Lynch was applied to the Attorney General’s office.
As it also turns out, Hoagland is a founder of a self-proclaimed watchdog activist known for his disruptive behavior at local council meetings and public forums and has a habit of getting arrested, more than 22 times since June of 2023.
In 2022, a jury determined Hoagland had to pay then-Blufton Mayor Lisa Sulka $40 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages for defamatory statements made in emails that she had committed a crime and was unfit for office.
In March 2023, Hoagland was arrested again for disrupting a Bluffton Town Council meeting, to which the town of Bluffton released a press release with video about the incident.
The top dogs in this field of candidates for the republican nomination for governor will no doubt continue to attack each other. It’s in the nature of the beast, but now that I think about it, calling them dogs was wrong and an insult to dogs.
They are clowns, but still not bigger clowns than the only Democrat candidate for Governor Mullins McCleod, still refusing to bow out at the request of his own party chair. Welcome to the clown show of the South Carolina governor's race. Sure to be entertaining and more than likely insulting to clowns as well.
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About the Author: Tony Spain is a 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.
He lives in Columbia, S.C.
.JPG)
About the Author: Tony Spain is a 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.He lives in Columbia, S.C.
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