Haunted by Quinns, Alan Wilson seeks third term as SC attorney general
The question is: Will those allegations sink Wilson's bid to win a third four-year term?
At a
Herlong vowed to eliminate "political influence" in the attorney general's office. Wilson, he said, had been too close to the Quinns, even working with
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If he is elected, "that kind of stuff would stop," the 59-year-old Herlong told the
The 52-year-old Atwater, a lawyer, didn't mention the Quinns by name. But, if elected, he said, he would root out public corruption and restore integrity to the attorney general's office. "We can't have just another politician."
Wilson, 44, fired back.
"They have convinced themselves that they have to destroy my reputation, lie about my reputation, and lie about the role of the office for them to have a chance to get in the runoff."
The fall of the Quinndom
At the center of the storm is
For years, Quinn engineered successful campaigns for
In Quinn's empire,
But Quinn's influence extended beyond getting
His firm also received hefty annual payments from big-dollar clients -- including the
Wilson's Quinn travails began in late 2013, when a confidential
Wilson's office launched an investigation. However, in early 2014, Wilson stepped aside, naming 1st Judicial Circuit Solicitor
After Harrell entered a guilty plea to misusing campaign money and resigned from the House in late 2014, Pascoe emailed the attorney general's office, urging the Quinns be investigated.
Despite his ties to
Subsequently, Wilson acknowledged that involving Quinn was a mistake.
In
In
Almost a year later, Pascoe indicted then-Rep.
In December, the Quinns entered guilty pleas to reduced charges.
'Kind of simmering'
Now, Republican voters must decide whether to punish Wilson for his ties to the Quinns.
"That thing is kind of simmering," longtime
Wilson has advantages: the power of incumbency and more name-recognition than Herlong or Atwater.
Wilson also has more money. As of the end of March, Wilson had a
Also, in his eight years in office, Wilson has forged links with law enforcement and victims' rights groups, and, for the most part, championed popular causes: fighting child sex predators, gangs and human trafficking.
Wilson also has taken red-meat positions on a host of
Those positions carry weight with the evangelicals and conservatives who cast most of the votes in the normally low-turnout
"Alan has been pretty adept over the years at nurturing his base and touching all sides in the
Atwater has his own ethical baggage, some say.
For much of his time in the
Even if Wilson manages to win the
The winner of June's
Anastopoulo has signaled she plans to raise the Quinns on the campaign trail, too.
"The AG should enforce the laws, not interfere in the process."
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