Air Force veteran, attorney, SC State professor announces congressional bid

COLUMBIA — A bankruptcy attorney and part-time professor at South Carolina State University announced a bid to oust U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, promising to work across party lines should he be successful.

Democrat Roger Pruitt of Columbia, who filed his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on May 19, said in a release Tuesday that he genuinely believes “in putting our country first.”

“I’m more than willing to collaborate with anyone — whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent — who genuinely wants to tackle the fundamental issues we face together,” he said in the release.

Like any Democrat challenging a Republican incumbent in South Carolina, Pruitt is facing long odds.

Wilson spent 17 years in the state Senate before his 2001 election to Congress to fill the vacancy created by the death of his political mentor, U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence, who represented the 2nd District for 30 years. He is the father of state Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Joe Wilson’s last two challengers each lost by about 20 points in the district that includes all of Lexington, Aiken and Barnwell counties, as well as parts of Richland and Orangeburg counties.

David Robinson II, Wilson’s 2024 opponent, is the only other Democrat to file with the FEC. No Republican has filed.

Wilson’s last competitive race was in 2020 against Democrat Adair Ford Boroughs, who lost by 13 points despite a well-financed campaign. Boroughs went on to be U.S. attorney for South Carolina during the Biden administration.

Pruitt is branding himself as a “commonsense Democrat” with a platform that emphasizes balancing the federal budget, repairing rural infrastructure, improving health care in underserved communities, overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs and reaching across the aisle.

“I’ve seen how bad policy decisions affect real people — families losing their homes, veterans navigating broken systems, and rural communities left behind,” he said. “South Carolinians are tired of politics as usual. We want leaders who show up, listen, and get things done.”

His father spent 22 years in the Air Force, and Pruitt eventually joined the Air Force himself in 1987. He served four years, leaving in 1991 with the rank of senior airman.

After spending two decades as a paralegal, Pruitt got his law degree from the Charleston School of Law and now runs his own bankruptcy law firm. He’s taught business law classes at South Carolina State University since August 2023.

“Washington has lost touch with the people it’s supposed to serve,” said the father of five. “I’m not a career politician. I’m a veteran, an attorney, and the proud son of working-class parents who taught me the values of service, sacrifice, and personal responsibility.”