SC GOP attorney general candidates clash in debate

May 29, 2026

Summary

South Carolina’s Republican attorney general candidates largely agreed on policy, but clashed over experience, corruption, and medical marijuana.

Why this matters

The debate offered one of the clearest side-by-side comparisons before the June 9 Republican primary for attorney general. The winner will help shape major criminal prosecutions, state legal strategy, and potential policy fights over cannabis, immigration, and judicial selection.

Republican candidates for South Carolina attorney general traded accusations during a debate Wednesday night, while largely agreeing on policy and differing most clearly on medical marijuana.

Sen. Stephen Goldfinch and 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe exchanged repeated attacks during the hourlong SCETV debate. 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo did not engage in the back-and-forth.

Pascoe, who switched to the Republican Party last year after two decades as a Democratic solicitor, questioned Goldfinch’s prosecutorial experience. Goldfinch accused Pascoe of maintaining close ties to Democratic trial lawyers, including former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman and Sen. Dick Harpootlian.

Pascoe highlighted his role in expanding and prosecuting a Statehouse corruption investigation that led to charges against a Republican political operative and six GOP legislators. Goldfinch raised $325,000 in restitution payments Pascoe’s office received from five businesses and state agencies during that investigation, an arrangement the South Carolina Supreme Court questioned in 2020. Pascoe said he was required to accept the money and returned it to the state for other ethics investigations.

Pascoe repeatedly referred to Goldfinch as “stem cell Steve,” citing a 2013 federal case involving an employee of a company Goldfinch owned. Goldfinch was never indicted, and the case was dismissed in 2017, according to court records.

“He has no prosecutorial experience other than when he was indicted for harvesting stem cells,” Pascoe said. “He is not qualified to be attorney general.”

Goldfinch did not directly address those claims during the debate. He defended his experience as a military attorney and repeatedly accused Pascoe of lying. Pascoe responded by calling Goldfinch a “RINO,” or Republican in name only.

All three candidates said they would move quickly to retry Alex Murdaugh after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his murder convictions this month because of what the justices called “shocking jury interference” by the court clerk.

They also agreed on stricter enforcement against people in the country illegally, resisting what they described as federal overreach, limiting referrals to private law firms, and changing South Carolina’s judicial selection process.

Medical marijuana produced the clearest disagreement. Pascoe said it helps some patients and welcomed the U.S. Justice Department’s move to reschedule cannabis. Stumbo said, “I believe the medical marijuana bill now is just a Trojan horse for recreational use, and I oppose it.” Goldfinch, who voted for medical marijuana legislation in 2022 and 2024, did not give a yes-or-no answer, saying unregulated hemp-derived THC products are already widespread.

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Republican candidates for South Carolina attorney general traded accusations during a debate Wednesday night, while largely agreeing on policy and differing most clearly on medical marijuana.

Sen. Stephen Goldfinch and 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe exchanged repeated attacks during the hourlong SCETV debate. 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo did not engage in the back-and-forth.

Pascoe, who switched to the Republican Party last year after two decades as a Democratic solicitor, questioned Goldfinch’s prosecutorial experience. Goldfinch accused Pascoe of maintaining close ties to Democratic trial lawyers, including former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman and Sen. Dick Harpootlian.

Pascoe highlighted his role in expanding and prosecuting a Statehouse corruption investigation that led to charges against a Republican political operative and six GOP legislators. Goldfinch raised $325,000 in restitution payments Pascoe’s office received from five businesses and state agencies during that investigation, an arrangement the South Carolina Supreme Court questioned in 2020. Pascoe said he was required to accept the money and returned it to the state for other ethics investigations.

Pascoe repeatedly referred to Goldfinch as “stem cell Steve,” citing a 2013 federal case involving an employee of a company Goldfinch owned. Goldfinch was never indicted, and the case was dismissed in 2017, according to court records.

“He has no prosecutorial experience other than when he was indicted for harvesting stem cells,” Pascoe said. “He is not qualified to be attorney general.”

Goldfinch did not directly address those claims during the debate. He defended his experience as a military attorney and repeatedly accused Pascoe of lying. Pascoe responded by calling Goldfinch a “RINO,” or Republican in name only.

All three candidates said they would move quickly to retry Alex Murdaugh after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his murder convictions this month because of what the justices called “shocking jury interference” by the court clerk.

They also agreed on stricter enforcement against people in the country illegally, resisting what they described as federal overreach, limiting referrals to private law firms, and changing South Carolina’s judicial selection process.

Medical marijuana produced the clearest disagreement. Pascoe said it helps some patients and welcomed the U.S. Justice Department’s move to reschedule cannabis. Stumbo said, “I believe the medical marijuana bill now is just a Trojan horse for recreational use, and I oppose it.” Goldfinch, who voted for medical marijuana legislation in 2022 and 2024, did not give a yes-or-no answer, saying unregulated hemp-derived THC products are already widespread.
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