Why this candidate for SC attorney general doesn’t want donations

COLUMBIA — The Democrat seeking to be South Carolina’s next attorney general is operating a campaign with zero cash flow, and that’s on purpose.

“When you owe no one, you can fight for everyone, and that’s the whole point,” attorney Richard Hricik told the SC Daily Gazette this week.

That includes owing himself. Beyond refusing to accept donations, he also won’t dig deep into his own wallet.

Back in March, he loaned his campaign $8,420 — enough to open a bank account, pay the $8,320 candidate filing fee and launch a website. He officially forgave the debt June 30, according to campaign filings.

That may seem an odd strategy for flipping a statewide office last won by a Democrat 36 years ago.

But Hricik, who owns a law firm in Mount Pleasant, said his refusal to fundraise allows him to be an “authentic defender” of South Carolina uninfluenced by donors with their own agendas. He’s also banking on his decision appealing to voters who believe there’s too much money in politics and who are tired of the barrage of campaign ads, texts and mailers.

As of his last campaign filing, his account had a balance of just $94.

Compare that to his Republican opponent, 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo, who had more than $43,000 cash available June 30 after spending more than $800,000 in a three-way GOP primary and runoff.

Neither Hricik nor Stumbo has filed a third-quarter report yet.

The two are competing Nov. 3 to replace Attorney General Alan Wilson, the GOP nominee for governor.

Hricik said the advertising “blizzard” for other races, including governor and U.S. Senate, make word-of-mouth campaigning the most effective way to reach voters for the down-ballot contest.

In response, Stumbo told the SC Daily Gazette he respects his opponent’s “right to run his campaign however he chooses.”

However, he said, “it is very misleading to imply that a candidate who receives financial campaign support is incapable of faithfully serving and impartially seeking justice for the people of South Carolina.”

That incorrectly implies nearly every elected officeholder is unqualified, Stumbo said.

The chief prosecutor for Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens and Newberry counties added that it “defies logic” to believe candidates can reach voters statewide without raising money to share their message.

Hricik, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, moved to Mount Pleasant in 1997 to teach criminal justice and constitutional law at Charleston Southern University, then started his law firm. He continues to teach part-time at the Charleston School of Law and online for William & Mary Law School, his alma mater.

He decided to run for attorney general, he said, because no other Democrat had signed up, and he believed the “rule of law needed an authentic defender.” He turned in his candidacy paperwork toward the end of the two-week filing period and was unopposed as the Democratic nominee.

Hricik said he believes his experience as a trial and appellate attorney representing clients statewide better qualifies him to be the state’s attorney general than a solicitor responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in a judicial circuit.

His notable cases include reaching a $2 million settlement with the Columbia Housing Authority in 2023, four years after a carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in a public housing complex killed two men. Hricik represented the family of one of the residents of Allen Benedict Court, which has since been demolished.

Beyond his experience in personal injury and wrongful death cases, Hricik’s wins in court include a 10-day extension for voter registration in October 2024 following Helene’s path of destruction through South Carolina as a tropical storm. In that case, he represented the state Democratic Party.

Hricik argues the attorney general’s office functions like a law firm, similar to his own. He contends the role is less focused on criminal prosecutions.

But Stumbo called it “puzzling” that a non-prosecutor would seek the job, saying his experience as a solicitor for the last 14 years and, before that, an attorney in private practice make him the better qualified candidate.

The attorney general is considered the state’s chief prosecutor. The duties of the office include representing the state in all appeals of criminal convictions, including death penalty cases. It also oversees the State Grand Jury, the Human Trafficking Task Force and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which prosecutes crimes related to child sexual abuse material.

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The office also defends the state from lawsuits and participates in national lawsuits.

Hricik said Wilson’s administration has done far too much of the latter.

Throughout his four terms, Wilson has regularly led and signed onto lawsuits with other GOP attorneys general to challenge the Obama and Biden administrations while filing briefs backing the Trump administrations from Democrat-led lawsuits.

Hricik said that’s inappropriately using the office to take political stances. A spokesman for Wilson declined to comment.

“The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s attorney, and I’m going to be the people’s attorney,” Hricik said.

If elected, he said, he’ll “go after all the bad guys, and that means the polluters too.” That includes looking into the environmental and financial impact of data centers and pollution by plastic pellets.