Runoffs will determine GOP nominees for attorney general, agriculture commissioner

COLUMBIA — A state senator from the Grand Strand and a three-term solicitor from the Upstate will face off in a GOP primary runoff in the race to become South Carolina’s next top prosecutor.

None of the three Republican candidates running for attorney general topped 50% of the primary vote.

Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo and state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch were the top two vote-getters, earning 42% of the vote and 35% respectively, in an attorney general’s race that is wide open for the first time in 16 years.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:30 p.m. with 64% of ballots counted.

The winner will take on Democrat Richard Hricik, a Charleston personal injury attorney, in November. They are vying to replace Attorney General Alan Wilson, who advanced to a GOP runoff in the governor’s race.

The other Republican candidate, First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, received nearly 24%% of the vote.

Goldfinch, a state senator who lives in Murrells Inlet, was first elected to the state House in 2012. Four years later, voters from Georgetown and Horry counties elected him to the Senate.

The married father of two holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Citadel and a law degree from the Charleston School of Law. The business owner-turned-lawyer is also a captain in the South Carolina Army National Guard, who deployed in 2023 to Africa.

Stumbo, the chief prosecutor for Abbeville, Greenwood, Newberry and Laurens counties, was first elected in 2012. Previously, he worked in the attorney general’s office and as an assistant solicitor in Lexington County.

The father of four lives with his wife and daughters in Greenwood.

Meanwhile, Pascoe, the chief prosecutor for Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties, ran as a Democrat for two decades.

He switched to the Republican Party in April 2025 as he publicly mulled a bid for attorney general. First elected solicitor in 2004, Pascoe said the Democratic Party deserted him by taking positions opposite from his own.

South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democrat as attorney general in 35 years. And no Democrat has won any statewide office since 2006.

In a social media post ahead of the primary, President Donald Trump urged South Carolinians not to vote for Pascoe, who the president called a “RINO,” short for Republican in name only.

Agriculture commissioner

The unusually competitive race to be South Carolina’s next agriculture commissioner also appeared headed to a runoff.

At almost 11 p.m., the two vote-getters of the four-way race were Cody Simpson, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Henry McMaster, and Danny Ford II, the son of Clemson University’s first national championship football coach.

With 85% of ballots counted, Simpson and Ford had 38% of the vote and 37% respectively, according to the state Election Commission’s preliminary results.

The winner of the runoff will take on Democrat DeShawn Blanding of Manning.

Simpson advances a day after Trump restated his endorsement of McMaster’s former agriculture adviser and chief executive assistant. Trump first endorsed Simpson in February, weeks ahead of him launching his bid.

Simpson left the governor’s office last May, after the Trump administration appointed him as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s executive director for South Carolina.

Simpson’s family farm is in the unincorporated Home Branch community in Clarendon County, where he said he was working at the family general store by age 10.

The Ford family has raised cattle in Central since his father, legendary coach Danny Ford, acquired the Pickens County farm in 1982.

Last year, they lost about a quarter of their cattle due to blue-green algae, which can quickly sicken and kill livestock that swallow the toxins that bloom in water. It was that crisis that Ford, a married father of two, said prompted him to run for office.

In addition to raising cattle in Central, Ford has a 180,000-square-foot greenhouse on the family farm in Travelers Rest, north of Greenville, where he grows plants including hemp, a cousin of marijuana.

Jeremy Cannon, a fourth-generation farmer from Turbeville, held nearly 14% of the vote.

And Fred West, the candidate who had the backing of retiring Commissioner Hugh Weathers, held just shy of 11%.

Weathers is stepping down after nearly 22 years leading the state Department of Agriculture, and agency of about 250 full-time employees with duties that include promoting the state’s various agribusiness sectors, keeping the food supply safe, and — since 2024 — handling all inspections of places that sell food, such as restaurants and cafeterias.

Superintendent of education

In the race to lead South Carolina’s K-12 public schools, Democrat Sylvia Wright will challenge incumbent Ellen Weaver in November.

Wright led the primary with nearly 62% of the vote when Lisa Ellis, a student activities director from Blythewood, conceded. It was Ellis’ second bid to be the state superintendent of education.

Ellis held about 39% of ballots cast as of 11 p.m., with 85% of votes recorded.

Wright, 45, most recently worked as a district coordinator for Dorchester 4, ran on the promise she would work with First Steps, the agency overseeing publicly funded preschool classes in childcare centers and private schools, to advocate for universal pre-K. That would open eligibility to all students, regardless of their parents’ income.

Wright said she spent years teaching before moving into more administrative roles. Originally from South Carolina, she also taught at schools in Maryland and Texas before moving back to the Palmetto State in 2019.

In other races, Democrat Vincent Coe, a former federal bank examiner, led in the race for state treasurer, with 56% of the vote as of 10 p.m., according to the state Election Commission results. If his lead holds, he will go up against incumbent Treasurer Curtis Loftis for the position of South Carolina’s investment banker.

And Democrat Tiffany Boozer had a commanding lead as of 11 p.m. in the race to be South Carolina’s next comptroller general, with 74% of the vote over Bruce Cole.

Republican Michael Burkhold had no primary opposition to be the state’s top accountant. Boozer already works in the state comptroller general’s office as an internal auditor.