Solicitor David Stumbo has spent more than a decade leading the fight against violent crime, drug trafficking, and crimes against women and children across South Carolina’s 8th Judicial Circuit, which includes Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry counties. First elected in 2012, he has become one of the state’s longest‑serving elected prosecutors and is known as a hands‑on trial lawyer who still personally tries major felony cases to a jury.
When Stumbo took office, the circuit’s trial conviction rate was in the mid‑40 percent range; under his leadership, it has risen to roughly 80 percent, reflecting a much stronger record of holding violent offenders accountable. His office has secured life and multi‑decade sentences in murder and armed‑robbery cases and made aggressive prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse a top priority, insisting that abusers and repeat offenders face serious prison time instead of easy plea deals.
Stumbo has also cracked down on major drug traffickers, including a Greenwood man with ties to a Mexican cartel who received 20 years in prison, and traffickers responsible for nearly 500 fentanyl pills and other large‑scale narcotics operations in the circuit.
Throughout this work, Stumbo has positioned the solicitor’s office as a firm ally of law enforcement and crime victims, partnering closely with sheriffs, local police, and SLED on joint investigations while emphasizing that public safety—not plea‑bargain statistics—drives his decisions. Local law‑enforcement leaders have credited his team with refusing to plead away serious cases just to clear dockets and for focusing on long‑term security for families and communities in the 8th Circuit.
Now, as a Republican candidate for attorney general, Stumbo is asking voters to look at that record of tougher convictions, long sentences for violent offenders and traffickers, and strong partnerships with law enforcement as proof of how he would lead statewide. He argues that South Carolina needs a proven career prosecutor in the AG’s office—someone who has already spent decades in the courtroom fighting for victims, backing the blue, and enforcing the law without apology.