About
Alan Wilson (R ) is a lawyer who, after easily winning the GOP primary earlier in 2022, is running unopposed for his fourth term as South Carolina’s attorney general with Trump’s endorsement. As AG he has litigated as a right-wing politician, opposing same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), and the legalization of marijuana, among other policies.
Wilson is chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), a corporate-backed coalition of right-wing attorneys general from throughout the country. In 2020, under his leadership RAGA actively participated in Trump’s efforts to overturn the presidential election.
January 6, 2021
- RAGA’s partner organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, funded a robocall encouraging Trump “patriots” to convene in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 to protest the outcome of the presidential election as Congress was about to certify the Electoral College results.
- Wilson chaired RAGA at the time but claims to have been “completely unaware” of the call urging protesters to come to the Capitol.
The Big Lie
- Wilson and 16 other Republican attorneys general filed an amicus brief in Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court in which Texas alleged that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin violated the Constitution by changing election procedures through non-legislative means. The amicus brief supported the “independent state legislature theory,” which argues that a state’s legislature is the only branch of state government allowed to oversee elections. The Supreme Court quickly dismissed the case for lack of standing.
- In January 2021, Wilson faced blowback in the form of a disciplinary complaint for allegedly using his office to lend credibility to the lie that the presidential election had been stolen.