Alan Wilson

Alan Wilson has been South Carolina's Attorney General since 2011, elected in 2010 and re-elected three times. He won the Republican runoff for governor and is running with state Sen. Mike Reichenbach. His platform calls for eliminating the state income tax, government audits and expanded technical education, and he says he will continue defending the state's heartbeat abortion law.[1][2][3]

Wilson was born on July 16, 1973, in West Columbia, South Carolina, and grew up with three brothers; he is an Eagle Scout.[1] His biological father, an Army captain and Vietnam veteran, died in a military training exercise, and his mother later married Joe Wilson, now a U.S. representative, who adopted him at age three.[1] Wilson earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Francis Marion University in 1996 and a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002.[1]

After college Wilson joined the South Carolina National Guard, where he holds the rank of colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.[1] After law school he worked as an assistant solicitor and assistant attorney general before entering private practice.[1] He and his wife, Jennifer, have a daughter.[1]

Wilson was first elected attorney general in 2010 and was re-elected three times, most recently in 2022.[1] He announced his run for governor on June 23, 2025, and chose Sen. Mike Reichenbach of Florence County as his running mate.[1][2] After advancing from the June 9 primary to a runoff against Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, he was projected by the Associated Press to win the June 23 Republican runoff and faces Democrat Jermaine Johnson in November.[4]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.