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David Pascoe, the longtime Lowcountry prosecutor who has held elected office as a Democrat for the past two decades, is joining the Republican Party. In doing so, he denounced his former party as "too soft on crime" and accused it of prioritizing progressive ideology over public safety. "I can no longer in good conscience wear the label of Democrat," Pascoe said April 10 while addressing a meeting of the Dorchester County Republican Party in Summerville.
"I stand here today proudly as a new member of the GOP." The move marks a sharp turn for Pascoe, who endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020 — but not in 2024 — and was once considered a rising figure in South Carolina's Democratic Party. But he now says the party he once served no longer reflects his values, pointing to his opposition to abortion and support for tougher immigration enforcement, as well as the continued use of capital punishment.
Pascoe's defection makes him the 20th elected official in South Carolina in recent years to ditch the Democratic Party for the GOP, part of a steady trickle that's making a deeply Republican state even redder. It also raises questions about Pascoe's long-term political ambitions, adding fuel to speculation swirling in political circles that he will seek the Republican nomination for S.C.
attorney general. Pascoe confirmed to The Post and Courier he is considering it, citing his time prosecuting a yearslong Statehouse corruption probe . "I know firsthand the issues in Columbia and throughout our state," Pascoe said, adding, "I am not knocking past AG's, but for too long 'AG' has stood for 'aspiring governor' and I believe our state would benefit from having someone only focused on being the chief prosecutor instead of making friends for further office.
" For now, Pascoe said, his focus is squarely on doing his job as 1st Circuit Solicitor. Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, a Republican and longtime friend and confidant of Pascoe, said she was not surprised by his decision to switch political parties. "This isn’t a big stretch for Pascoe.
He’s never been a big label guy and he has always been a tough prosecutor," Wilson told the newspaper in a statement ahead of the speech. "The pardons, the lawfare, the attacks from Dem Party players over his calling out corruption made it inevitable he would get back to his roots." But less than three hours before Pascoe was scheduled to appear at the local GOP gathering at the Summerville Country Club, he still hadn’t called S.
C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick, according to a party spokesperson. In his speech, Pascoe pointed to the moment he says he knew he could no longer remain in the party: Dec.
23, 2024 — the day then-President Joe Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 people on federal death row. One of them was Brandon Council , who had been sentenced to die for the 2017 killing of two women during an armed robbery at a bank in Conway. Pascoe said he could not comprehend that kind of disregard for the victims' loved ones two days before Christmas.
Pascoe, 58, built his profile through his prosecution of Statehouse corruption cases that felled the House speaker and other legislators in the late 2010s. In recent years, he has also emerged as a vocal advocate for judicial reform, calling for an end to the practice that allows so-called lawyer-legislators in the S.C.
Legislature to select judges they may later appear before in court. As 1st Circuit Solicitor, a position he has held since 2005, Pascoe is in charge of prosecutions in Dorchester, Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. Alan Hovorka contributed to this report.
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