S.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL AIMS TO RECLAIM LOST CREDIBILITY …
This website has been brutally dismissive of the 2018 gubernatorial ambitions of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson – and with good reason.
Wilson imploded on the Palmetto political stage earlier this year, doing all sorts of damage to his statewide aspirations. His obstruction of an ongoing public corruption probe at the S.C. State House also severely tarnished his prior reputation as a crusader on that front.
“Wilson could conceivably worm his way back to credibility … (but) we wouldn’t bet on it happening,” we wrote two months ago.
Well, it looks as though Wilson is doing everything within his power to prove us wrong … at least when it comes to raising money for his political future.
According to campaign finance documents filed earlier this month with the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC), Wilson brought in more than $168,000 during the recently concluded third quarter of 2016 – not bad for a guy who basically committed political suicide a few short months ago.
Wilson’s latest haul leaves him with nearly $820,000 on hand as the 2018 gubernatorial campaign begins to heat up. By comparison, the only announced candidate for governor to file paperwork with the ethics commission – former lieutenant governor Yancey McGill – raised only $80,850 during the third quarter (and spent a whopping $73,000 of what he brought in).
By comparison, Wilson spent just $9,000 during the third quarter – the vast majority of it going to his neo-Confederate political advisors, the consulting firm of Richard Quinn and Associates.
Obviously Wilson and McGill aren’t the only two “Republican” candidates aspiring to be governor of the Palmetto State in 2018. S.C. Rep. Tommy Pope – the No. 2 “Republican” in the S.C. House of Representatives – has confirmed he is seeking the seat, although he has yet to file paperwork with the SCSEC to that effect.
(Also, Pope is in the midst of some major drama at the moment).
Who else is running? Lieutenant governor Henry McMaster, U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney and Lowcountry attorney Catherine Templeton are all widely expected to declare their candidacies early next year, while S.C. Senator Tom Davis, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, S.C. Rep. Kirkman Finlay, Columbia, S.C. businessman Joe Taylor and several other candidates are said to be mulling bids.
Davis has even been approached as a possible libertarian “fusion” candidate, according to our sources.
Additionally there are persistent rumors that U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford might seek the office he held from 2003-11. In fact Sanford is currently sitting on more than $1 million in a statewide account – and has nearly $1 million on hand in his U.S. House account, according to the latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.
Sources close to the ex-“Luv Gov” say he still salivates over the White House bid that eluded him four years ago – and views another stint as governor of the Palmetto State as the next step in his political comeback.