Stumbo, Hricik face off in South Carolina attorney general race

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - For the first time in more than 15 years, South Carolina voters will elect a new attorney general.

With Alan Wilson, who has held the office since 2011, seeking the governor’s office, the race to become the state’s next top legal official has come down to Republican David Stumbo and Democrat Richard Hricik.

The attorney general serves as South Carolina’s chief legal officer, overseeing criminal appeals, defending state laws in court, representing state agencies and pursuing consumer protection cases.

Both candidates say they would put South Carolinians first but offer different backgrounds and priorities.

“The people need an attorney, and the Office of Attorney General is the people’s attorney,” Hricik said.

“I’m always going to put the interests of our citizens before anything else,” Stumbo said.

Stumbo currently serves as solicitor for four Upstate counties in the eighth circuit and has centered his campaign on his experience as a career prosecutor.

“I think you need experience as a criminal prosecutor to be the chief prosecutor, and so 22 years of doing that in my career, I’m ready and prepared on day one to keep South Carolina families safe,” Stumbo said.

If elected, Stumbo says his priorities would include combating violent crime, expanding investigations into internet crimes against children and establishing regional attorney general’s offices across the state.

“They get to know the citizens, the nonprofits in those areas and the kinds of things that are going on in communities,” Stumbo said. “I think we’re going to be a lot more effective as an office.”

Hricik, a Charleston-area attorney, has spent much of his career representing clients in civil court. He is running what he calls a “no-donation campaign,” arguing elected officials can better serve the public when they are not financially tied to campaign contributors.

“We’re going to answer the phone because government is supposed to exist to serve the people, and that’s the power of the law,” Hricik said. “I have put that to work for people for 30 years and have seen the power of the law change lives for ordinary people.”

Hricik says his focus would be on strengthening consumer protections, defending property rights and making the attorney general’s office more accessible to the public. He has also pointed to issues involving large-scale development projects and data centers as areas where he believes greater oversight may be needed.

“A permit is not a license to cheat. It’s not a license to steal. It’s not a license to exploit. It’s not a license to harm,” Hricik said. “If they jack up your utility rate and they harm our water, I’m coming after them.”

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