S.C. attorney general candidate hospitalized days before GOP runoff
by Don Jacobson · UPIJune 21 (UPI) -- A candidate for South Carolina's attorney general post says he was briefly hospitalized over the weekend in the run-up to Tuesday's Republican Party runoff election for the job.
David Stumbo, currently solicitor for the state's 8th Judicial Circuit, announced in a Saturday social media post that he was admitted to a hospital for an undisclosed ailment earlier in the day.
"I woke up not feeling right this morning, and my wife -- who's a good deal wiser than I am -- told me to go get checked out," Stumbo wrote. "The doctor decided to admit me to the hospital to be safe and taken care of right away.
"I'm in good hands, in good spirits, and they are ensuring me I'll be a full strength for Tuesday," he added.
Stumbo is running against State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch in the upcoming runoff. The winner will advance to November's general election to face Democratic nominee Richard Hricik.
"I'm following the doctor's orders to the letter, and I'm not slowing down on what matters: earning the trust and the votes of South Carolinians who want a proven prosecutor as their next Attorney General," Stumbo wrote.
Stumbo is emphasizing his law-and-order credentials as local prosecutor in his bid to become South Carolina's top legal authority.
"I've prosecuted hundreds of cases throughout my career in the state of South Carolina," he told WCSC-TV on Thursday. "That means working with sheriffs and police chiefs, working with [state authorities], working with Highway Patrol, working with DNR -- all of our law enforcement agencies."
He earned the endorsement of The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston on Wednesday, which called him "the clear choice" in the GOP runoff.