Of the two major-party candidates running to replace Henry McMaster as the attorney general of South Carolina, Alan Wilson brings the most prosecutorial experience and solid leadership qualities to this race. Wilson had to win a tough Republican primary to earn the right to face Democrat Matthew Richardson. A third-party candidate also is in this race.
Wilson and Richardson fall short of the impressive credentials of the current office holder. Henry McMaster had been a successful U.S. attorney for South Carolina who proved his mettle early on in some corruption cases, and the attorney general before McMaster, Charlie Condon, had been a respected solicitor who represented Charleston and Berkeley counties.
While a bit more seasoning certainly would have been preferred, each candidate meets what voters should consider minimum requirements for the job. Although based in Columbia, Richardson is an attorney with the Greenville-based Wyche firm. He’s smart, has handled complex legal cases, and has a good understanding of the office he is seeking. He also has a legal pedigree that comes from being the grandson of the legendary Bubba Ness of Bamberg, an exceptionally tough judge who served as chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court before retiring and returning to private practice.
Wilson has fewer years as an attorney under his belt — about seven compared to Richardson’s 12 years experience. And Wilson has his own political pedigree, that of being the son of Rep. Joe Wilson of the 2nd Congressional District.
Alan Wilson has some experience as an assistant solicitor in Lexington County and as an assistant attorney general. Where he gains the most respect is in his combat service in Iraq as an officer with the Army National Guard. He led troops during the stress of war, and he served with distinction. This speaks volumes about his leadership abilities.
The Attorney General’s Office has not escaped budget cuts, and neither have all the solicitor’s offices across the state that handle the bulk of criminal cases. Wilson has some good ideas in this area. For example, he wants to loan prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office to local prosecutors to help them reduce their backlog of cases. He supports more diversionary programs, when appropriate, such as drug courts. And he has a novel idea that’s worth a try: Using pro bono lawyers to help prosecute cases in the same manner they are used for public defense work. Such ideas show the creativity needed during tough economic times, because an often-forgotten truism is that timely prosecution of criminal cases is a key component of public safety.
One of the most important challenges for this state’s attorney general is deciding which cases to wade into and where to put the office’s limited resources. McMaster generally has done a good job of resisting purely political moves and largely devoting the authority of his office to protecting important rights of this state.
Wilson and Richardson agree, at least in large part, on some of the big legal issues facing our state. Both understand the importance of protecting South Carolina’s water rights. They also understand the state’s interest in opening Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the nuclear waste storage site it was intended to be for the nation.
Even in the area of challenging the constitutionality of the “individual mandate” requirement under the health-care reform law recently passed by Congress at the urging of President Barack Obama, there is some agreement. Wilson is fired up and ready to continue the legal fight McMaster has started with the multi-state lawsuit that centers on whether the federal government can require people to buy health insurance.
Richardson would be more measured in his approach. While he sees value in the lawsuit, he said South Carolina should not take a lead role that could be costly, but instead allow other states to spend their dollars as the lead litigant.
Both Wilson and Richardson are credible candidates for this race. The Greenville News endorses Wilson based on his more relevant experience and the leadership qualities he already has demonstrated.