♪ > Welcome to This Week In South Carolina, I'm Gavin Jackson.

This week we continue our coverage of election 2026 with a look at the candidates that are running for attorney general.

This is the first time in 16 years that there is a wide open attorney general's race on the ticket.

Since incumbent AG Alan Wilson is on the ticket for governor.

Running to replace him is Republican Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo and Democrat Richard Hricik.

I spoke with Solicitor Stumbo at his office in Greenwood and opened by asking him about how he won the primary runoff back in late June.

> Well, I think authenticity, you know, one of the things my wife Vanessa and I have always tried to do is just be who we are, be real.

We're regular people.

We grew up in regular middle class type families.

My wife grew up on a farm.

I grew up in Greenwood, and we're just small town, rural folks.

And, I think that came across in the campaign that, you know, you need leadership that comes from the, just the regular folks, common folks.

And I think that really resonated with voters, in our primary and I've tried to live that way.

I've tried to not just live that way professionally, as a prosecutor, but just in everyday life and, you know, the way we raise our family, the way we interact with our community, all those things.

And I think that has ripple effect in political races, too.

Gavin> Right, because you weren't the only solicitor in that race, but you are the Eighth Circuit Solicitor.

So kind of talk to us about, you know, who David Stumbo is, your career and your background and being solicitor since 2012?

David> Sure, yes.

I've been a prosecutor for over 22 years, and I ran for this office 14 years ago, and I've been in this position, and it has been the honor, privilege of my career to serve as a circuit solicitor.

I think it is so critical for law enforcement to have confidence in who their prosecutor is going to court, and having good leadership in a solicitor's office is so important.

And I believe we really turned around this circuit in terms of the morale of law enforcement and the attitudes here in the Eighth Circuit towards prosecutors and towards the criminal justice system.

And I'm proud of that.

Over the last 14 years, we've had a lot of, you know, and that's due to the great staff I have here at the Solicitor's Office.

The Solicitor's Office is such a role that gets forgotten a lot of times in the criminal justice role.

But it is right at the center of it.

So I've been thankful to serve as a circuit solicitor, Gavin, for 14 years.

It was really hard to even make the decision to run.

And it'll be sad if all works out and I do win and take office in January as AG, it'll be hard to leave the state circuit solicitor role.

I've really, really loved it.

Gavin> And when you talk about changing attitudes, I mean, can you walk me through a little bit of that, because, you know, you're in charge of, you know, big cases that come through, whether someone pleas out or whether you go to trial, I mean, things like that.

I mean, what's your approach to those situations?

I mean, sometimes people say, "Oh, folks aren't tough on crime enough, everyone's getting these sweet plea deals."

I mean, how do you approach that?

How have you approached that over the past 14 years?

David> Absolutely.

I think there's a two-pronged approach to justice here.

And we need to, as prosecutors, have good discretion and wisdom on which cases we take to trial and seek the biggest sentences on and the ones that maybe need mercy, you know, and go through drug courts or other diversion programs, just can't get out of their own way with maybe addiction.

And we have really, expanded our drug courts here in the Eighth Circuit.

And we started a veterans court, for our veterans community that were now in a bad place with addiction.

So we're doing a lot of those things, too.

But right at the beginning of my time here, Gavin, I tried, prepared for trial, 20 cases in about two years.

And I think that we needed to set a new tone here.

Law enforcement didn't have a lot of confidence in the cases that were going to trial and the ones that really did need to go to prison, that were a threat to our people in Greenwood, Laurens, Newberry, and Abbeville counties.

And I tried those cases in all four counties around the Eighth Circuit.

And I really wanted to set a new tone for our approach.

So it's being tough on the ones we need to be tough on and extending mercy to, you know, the ones that, that too.

And that puts us in a really unique position as prosecutors.

I think we, do we do that perfectly here?

No, but I think we've done a good job over the last 14 years of restoring confidence to the community.

Gavin> And how do you move that into the attorney general's office?

What your vision there, should you win?

What you would maybe carry over from your lessons learned here?

David> That's a great, great question.

And I really want to take that approach and, you know, to do justice and love mercy, as it says in the scriptures and the book of Micah, that we can do both, that those things aren't mutually exclusive.

Sometimes justice means extending some mercy.

Sometimes you have to come down hard.

Sometimes you seek the death penalty, we've done that in a number of cases.

So, that's the approach I'll take as the next attorney general.

I want to fight for the people of our state, just like we fought for the people of the Eighth Circuit in the last 14 years.

Be a prosecutor first, be that tip of the spear for the criminal justice system.

But then the other big part of the AG's office is obviously the civil division and government affairs and public policy issues that are so critical to our citizens as well, and our businesses and our people and our consumers of the state, all of those things.

It's a very big job.

So I'm gonna need a lot of help and many great, there's a lot of good people already in that office.

We're gonna meld them with maybe even some new folks.

And I think we're just gonna get after it the way we did here in the Eighth Circuit, when I took office 14 years ago, and putting the people of South Carolina first before anything else.

Gavin> And then you were talking about, just your time here as solicitor, how much you enjoyed it, then why move up to the next rung, essentially, and go to the AG's office?

What prompted you to throw your hat in that race?

David> Well, I really think in a lot of ways the circuit solicitor role is a better job, you know, for someone who loves to go to court and be a prosecutor.

But my wife and I prayed about this.

Vanessa and I really felt strongly that South Carolina was at a crossroads point, Gavin.

We needed good leadership in our state, on the state level, going forward.

We have, we're the fastest growing state in America right now, per capita, 2025.

The numbers showed we were growing faster than any other state.

People are coming here because they love our people.

They love our values.

And that's what sets us apart, I believe.

Obviously the climate and a lot of the other things, the terrain, you know, you can be at the beach in the morning and be in the mountains in the afternoon here, and that makes us special too.

But, it's mainly our people and our values.

To maintain that, we need good leadership.

And so, Vanessa and I felt really strongly about the fact that we felt like God was opening this door for us to be a leader for the entire state, not just this four county region we call the Eighth Judicial Circuit that's home for us.

> I was talking to your opponent and he was saying that, you know, there's a lot of focus on just being a prosecutor.

You just talked about the other aspects of the job, if you were to become AG.

So how do you juggle that?

Obviously your background being what it is, his being, what his is, how do you maybe work that into it since that's not something you've been doing here per se?

> Well, you know, I've been involved in policy issues for a long time, too.

And just and we've, I've been involved in the Republican Party.

I've been involved in conservative issues.

My wife and I've been very involved in the pro-life industry and movement for many years, to try to serve, young girls that are going through crisis pregnancies.

We've worked in crisis pregnancy centers, volunteered, given our time and our resources, so that, you know, not just that, but we've been involved in other community efforts.

So, I've worked in a civil firm for a year, when, in fact, the year I ran for solicitor, I did nothing but civil cases, personal injury, worker's comp, worked in a firm doing that when I ran for solicitor.

So I do have experience in the civil arena as well.

And I think it's very important for us, to have a broad base of experience.

But the primary job of the AG is to be the leader for the criminal justice system.

That's the biggest part of that office.

More employees there work in the criminal section of that office than the civil division.

That's not to say it's more important or less important, but I believe our state expects their attorney general to be someone who has experience in the prosecution arena and the criminal justice arena and I have that extensively.

That's why many sheriffs around the state have endorsed us, not only in the primary, but now in the general election.

They know the experience I bring to the table in keeping our family safe and partnering with them, with law enforcement.

So that is a key component.

Obviously, the public policy civil realm is very important too.

And I'm looking forward to diving into that part of the job as well.

Gavin> So what do you think of the AG's office right now?

Obviously it's been occupied by Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, for the past 16 years.

He's running for governor.

But when you look at that office and your experiences here, is there anything that you really want to fix when you get there?

Is there anything that you think really needs to be fixed when you get in there, if you were to win?

David> Well, I think what I bring, Gavin, to the table is kind of an in the trenches mindset.

I've been here in the circuits and our guys have been in court battling, you know, to keep our community safe.

I think sometimes in Columbia, at the AG's office is on the Statehouse grounds, it's not out in the courthouses and in the circuits.

So one of the things I'd like to do is actually, we're exploring maybe opening regional offices for the AG's office.

So everybody's not just piled up at the statehouse, but we're out in the circuits working with the solicitors, with the sheriffs, with the judges, with the attorneys in those communities, to get justice.

So I think that's gonna make us more effective if we can make that happen.

We're already discussing that.

Gavin> There have been a lot of concerns, talking about issues, moving on to that, about flock cameras and privacy.

I think we actually got clocked by a flock camera on the way in here.

[laughter] and as you see it, and I know there's a bunch of discussion about, people are concerned about privacy issues.

There's also local jurisdictions having the ability to determine whether to use them or not.

Where do you come down on this?

Do you feel like there's more, that there are a lot of concerns about these?

Do you think that they're valid, or do you think that this is an invasion of privacy?

How do you come down on the flock issue, and how would you maybe advocate at the Statehouse level to make changes if you think they're needed?

David> That's a great question.

And I've already been diving into this issue with a lot of the sheriffs.

Certainly there are concerns and that system can be misused.

We've seen officers that have made, you know, done searches on these for private purposes, searching their girlfriends and you know, or boyfriends or whatever.

That's a problem.

And so we need to have very, very strict guardrails on this and punishment for those that misuse the system to improperly use it.

But that being said, I think we would be foolish to completely scrap them.

And the reason is this, we've had flock cameras for over a decade.

The issues have already been litigated.

In fact, I had a murder trial in Greenwood, a couple of years ago where we would not have caught the guy, but for the flock camera, never would have been caught.

And he killed a lady that had a ten year old son, left this little boy fatherless, or motherless from the drive-by shooting.

Law enforcement never would have had a lead but for the license plate reader on the tag of his girlfriend's car.

I tried that case myself, got a conviction, that guy's never getting out of prison.

So we have to... and that story could be replicated hundreds of times over if you talk to law enforcement and prosecutors around the state, it is a great tool.

Just like any other tool, a gun, a taser, you have to use it responsibly.

Gavin> We've talked about this before too, on the debate stage.

But tell me what your thoughts are about corruption in Columbia, what you think that means and how you would root it out if you were to become attorney general?

David> Well, I think we need to distinguish, as prosecutors, between criminal, you know, activity and stuff that's just bad government.

And at the end of the day, if we have evidence and this is gonna be my approach, just like as a prosecutor, I've done my whole career, if we have a complaint or information, we have law enforcement investigate it.

And if at the end of that investigation, we have evidence of a crime, then you go forward and you prosecute the case.

If it is just one of those things that we need to change policy on, for example, the way we elect judges in South Carolina, we've talked about judicial reform.

There's a lot that's done where lawyers are practicing in front of the same judges they elect.

But that's systemically legal in South Carolina.

It's a problem, that I think we need to solve.

But it's not illegal for a lawyer to go practice in front of a judge they may cast a vote on later down the road.

<Right> I think we need to work on that as a matter of policy and change the way we elect judges, so there's not this appearance of impropriety or influence or actual influence in that way.

I'd advocate for a governor's appointment and a legislative confirmation.

I just think that's the way we do it on a federal level, it's what we're used to.

Gavin> Alright, Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

David> Thank you, Gavin.

Appreciate you.

Gavin> On the Democratic side is Richard Hricik.

I asked him about his background and who he is.

> I grew up one of six kids, working class kid, been working since I was 13 years old.

Newspapers, restaurants, you name the job.

I put myself through school at night, first in my family to graduate college.

So I know the struggles of everyday people.

Borrowed every penny to go to law school.

Moved to South Carolina, began my career here, as a professor at Charleston Southern University.

Ultimately opened my own law practice, and I have been incredibly, blessedly successful.

My wife and I talk about we started our lives here, and it was roughly almost 30 years ago.

It's been nothing but a conspiracy of happiness.

And I could not be more grateful and more blessed for everything this state has done for me and my family.

And part of the job of attorney general, this is my thank you.

And why I say that is, you know, I don't need this job, but I want this job.

And I think the people are ready to have somebody who will serve the people of South Carolina, because that's the job.

The job of attorney general is two things.

One, serve the people of South Carolina and two, uphold and defend the rule of law.

And that's also why I'm not taking any money, because when you owe no one, you can fight for everyone.

And that's exactly what I'll do as your attorney general.

I'm gonna go after all the bad guys.

Gavin> Richard, you were just saying, like, you know, you've been blessed, things have been really working out in your favor, and you gave a little bit of as to why you were running.

But tell me more why you decided to say, "Hey, this is the time to do it."

This is why you wanna jump in the race.

Just the why behind your bid right now.

Richard> Well, I'll tell you the why is this is, I think, the rule of law needs an authentic defender.

And I think the rule of law is not, the rule of law is black and white, it is not red or blue.

And it's incredibly dangerous to our democracy when that becomes so.

You know, for 250 years, that's what we just celebrated.

We celebrated the rule of law that binds us all.

And the rule of law needs an authentic defender.

You know, I've been asking and answering questionnaires and they say, "what's your policy position about this and what's your policy position about that?"

You know what the great part about being attorney general is?

I don't get a vote.

I don't get to tell you that this is what I want because I'm not in the General Assembly.

But what I will tell you is, is that I will uphold and defend the rule of law the same for everybody.

Rule of law for you, rule of law for me, rule of law for those in power, and especially to those, you know, there's been a really underutilized portion of the attorney general's office not fighting for ordinary people.

You know, people are working harder than ever, and we don't have... money's not going far enough.

And I don't need to tell your viewers that.

But you know what?

The attorney general is supposed to be the defender of the people when the corporations are cheating you, ripping you off, burying you in hidden fees, giving you the runaround on insurance claims.

I can keep going, medical bills you don't understand and how about exploiting our water and our lands?

The attorney general is supposed to be a defender of all those things.

It is not state solicitor, it's attorney general.

And the word general's in the title for the reason.

And I'll go after all the bad guys for you.

Gavin> Right.

And that's something you've been talking about too in your stance and your policies is that it's not just about criminals, it's not just about being a prosecutor.

I mean, is that something that you're really trying to differentiate yourself between when you look at your opponent too?

Richard> Well, it's not a differentiate of opponent.

It's what the job is supposed to do.

Take a look at what Jeff Jackson is doing in North Carolina.

My job is to represent the interests of the people of South Carolina.

Did you know the attorney general's office only handled 246 criminal cases directly in 2025?

That's not the job, your state solicitors handle all the day to day criminal prosecutions that happen in the county.

The attorney general's job is a vast law firm.

300 people, 90 lawyers, consumer affairs, constitutional law, environmental law.

What I'm saying is, is that the office has been turned into a political platform.

I want to turn it into the service of the people.

You know, right now, if you go to the website for the attorney general and you say you have a problem with a debt collector, do you know what it tells you?

"Not our problem."

Having a problem with the insurance companies giving you a runaround?

Guess what they tell you?

"Not our problem."

I can keep going.

Those are the problems.

Those are the problems of everyday folks and it's a tax on them and they need someone speaking for them.

And those are the people who I've been speaking for and fighting for 30 years and I'm gonna continue to fight for them as their attorney general.

Gavin> And then Richard, kind of also talking about some topics that are really, front of mind for a lot of folks these days, flock cameras, AI data centers, a lot of concerns around all that.

But specifically, those flock cameras, when it comes to privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment.

What concerns do you have over it?

Obviously, jurisdictions make their own decisions, but we're seeing some counties now outlawing those.

<Oconee County> There's concerns over abuse of these.

Where do you come down on flock cameras and how they should be regulated in a sense?

Richard> Well, let me tell you, first and foremost, I have been very vocal about flock cameras because, you know, I'm not beholden to law enforcement.

And, you know, the rules, this comes back to the rule of law, right?

The rule of law for you, rule of law for me, rule of law for police.

So let's begin with what you first said, communities have the right to decide what sort of powerful tools they want police to use in their communities and if they don't want them, Oconee County said, "We don't want this level of surveillance in our county, and we're gonna vote to do that."

I respect that, I applaud that.

The citizens have the right to control civil police enforcement in their communities, and that's number one.

Number two, this is a dangerous, powerful tool because this isn't just Google knowing where you are in your phone.

This is the government acquiring data and knowing where you have gone at every minute of every day when you're out on the public streets.

And I will tell you, as a constitutional professor and I teach at two law schools, my alma mater, William and Mary and I also teach at Charleston School of Law.

This is not an answered question.

In fact, there was a very recent US Supreme Court case that said, "You know what?

It's the aggregation of data now.

It is the aggregation of information."

So I am highly, highly concerned.

And what I'm also highly concerned with is what happens to this data.

It doesn't just get used or accessed by government.

It gets accessed by flock.

Number two, just like any government official, you abuse a computer and you abuse your privacy and you abuse your information, I'm gonna prosecute you.

We're gonna investigate it, we're gonna look into it, and you're gonna go to jail.

It's the same reason why, when you asked about running for office, if you attack the General Assembly, I don't care who you voted for, you're going to jail for that too.

And public safety and public security demands people feel and not have the government invade.

Last point for you is one that's very special.

South Carolina's got a unique constitution.

You know what it says?

In our Constitution it says, You have a right, not just the Fourth Amendment, but "To be free of an unreasonable invasion of privacy."

The flock cameras and the aggregation of data.

The more you aggregate, the more you are watched, the more unreasonable that invasion of privacy becomes.

> Right.

Again, a lot to be answered too, not just from the judicial side of things, but also the legislative side of things.

Not your concern, that's the Statehouse's concern, also the local concerns, too.

But, interesting to hear your stance on this, too.

But when we talk about other issues in this race, I remember during the primaries, specifically on the Republican side, both in the AG race and the governor's race, there was a lot of discussion about corruption in Columbia.

Do you believe that there is a lot of corruption in Columbia?

How do you see this role in the AG's office in terms of rooting out any corruption in the state?

> Well, here's what I would say.

Number one is, I'm not taking any money for that very reason.

Because you know what?

When you owe no one, you can fight for everyone.

And if you send me to Columbia, I'm not beholden to anybody.

There's nobody I have to answer to except the people and the rule of law.

Number two, we've had the same people in power, and correct me if I'm not wrong, in the General Assembly, in the governor, and in the attorney general's office.

So let me tell you, if you think that there is corruption in Columbia, maybe sending the same people of the same political party back there over and over again might not be the solution to answering problems for the people of South Carolina, rooting out corruption and delivering results.

You know, an attorney general's office that is not fighting for the people every day but is making political statements every day.

That's not the people's attorney.

You know, you mentioned data centers.

It's the people's lands and the people's water.

That's the attorney general's job is to fight for those things for people.

You know, communities right now are under threat.

I'm the attorney general that's gonna represent the people because there's no buffer.

And when you owe no one, you can fight for everyone.

Gavin> So Richard, just kinda wrapping up here, too what we talked about a couple of different issues.

But when you look at all of them and where you stand on things, what do you think is the biggest issue that you could tackle if you were to become attorney general?

Richard> I know how to go after all the bad guys.

It's not just those with guns.

And you know what?

Everybody who is listening and seeing this can tell one thing.

Not all bad guys carry guns, and many of the worst ones wear corporate suits.

For 30 years I have been fighting on behalf of ordinary people who have been harmed by some of the most powerful corporations and governments in our country and been holding them accountable.

That's the job.

Serving and representing ordinary people, holding powerful interests accountable and delivering results, whether that's medical bills, debt collectors, whether it's insurance companies giving you the runaround, people poisoning our lands, whether they're trying to take our water, cheat us, I'm gonna be the guy who will be fighting for you and delivering for you.

Because you know why?

I got 30 years of scars on me from those fights.

And you know what that tells you?

I know how to fight.

I know how to win for you.

And it's not just the bad guys who are criminals.

And again, those are your county solicitors handle almost all of those cases.

And Creighton Waters, by the way, he's the one who's prosecuting Alex Murdaugh.

Not the attorney general.

The attorney general, I'll be fighting every day for the people of South Carolina.

I know how to do it.

I have a 30 year history of winning, and I will win and deliver for you.

Gavin> That being said, Richard, how do you see winning right now?

Obviously, it's a very Republican state.

No one has won as a Democrat statewide since 2006 which was Jim Rex, <Sure> for the State Supreme Superintendent of Education.

So how do you see this pathway, especially when you're not raising money and not getting that, you know, the advertising on air?

I assume you're not advertising if you're not raising money.

How do you break through?

What's your pathway to victory here on November 3rd?

Richard> I'm gonna tell you it's authenticity and I think people are tired.

And everybody who hears the sound of my voice, the ordinary people, the working folks who come home tired every day, the folks who take a shower after they come home from work.

I've been that guy, I know what it's like.

I know what meatless spaghetti and tuna fish and ramen noodles tastes like.

And I know what it's like to look in a checkbook that reads zero, even after your paycheck gets deposited.

Those are the folks who, when they hear about me because that's the thing, when they hear about it authentically, people know authenticity.

They know people who know how to fight.

And what I will tell you is, don't look at my words, look at my track record.

30 years of delivering results for people.

And I will tell you the most authentic experiences we share today, whether it's what you're gonna stream on Netflix, the restaurant you're going to, or what you share on social media about when you had a good time, that's what changes people's hearts and minds.

And a politician who's saying he's gonna uphold the rule of law, that it's not red or blue, but it's black or white, and he's not taking any money beholden to anybody.

You know what?

I think that's a message that has its time.

And I think people are ready for an authentic defender who will go to Columbia, clean house, represent the people and be beholden to no one.

Gavin> Alright.

Richard Hricik, Democrat nominee for attorney general.

Thanks for joining us.

Richard> Thanks so much for having me, enjoyed it very much.

Gavin> For these interviews and much more, subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@SCETVNews.

Remember that the last day to register to vote is October 4th, and you can do that online at SCVotes.Gov For South Carolina ETV, I'm Gavin Jackson Be well South Carolina.

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