Alan McCrory Wilson (born Alan McCrory; July 16, 1973) is an American lawyer, politician, and military officer who has served as the 51st attorney general of South Carolina since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The adopted son of U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, he attended Francis Marion University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He serves as a colonel in the South Carolina National Guard and worked as an attorney in Columbia before being elected attorney general in 2010. As attorney general, Wilson has litigated to block same-sex marriage, invalidate the Affordable Care Act, challenge environmental regulations, defend anti-abortion laws, and prohibit masking and vaccine requirements. He has advocated against cannabis decriminalization and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Wilson is the Republican nominee for governor of South Carolina in the 2026 election.
Early life and education Wilson was born Alan McCrory on July 16, 1973 in West Columbia, South Carolina. His father, Michael Alan McCrory, was an Army captain and Vietnam veteran who died in a military training exercise at Fort Bragg when Wilson was two years old. His mother, Roxanne Dusenbury McCrory, later married Joe Wilson, who currently serves as the U.S. representative for . Joe Wilson adopted Alan when he was three years old, and Alan subsequently took his surname. Along with his three brothers, Alan is an Eagle Scout.
Wilson graduated from Francis Marion University, where he joined Pi Kappa Alpha through the Theta Delta chapter, in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He later received a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2002.
Wilson joined the South Carolina National Guard in 1996 after finishing his undergraduate studies. He currently serves as a colonel in the Judge Advocate General Corps.
Legal career Wilson interned in the South Carolina Attorney General's office under Charlie Condon. After law school, he worked for Judge Marc H. Westbrook of the South Carolina Circuit Court. Wilson later served as an assistant solicitor and as an assistant attorney general in South Carolina. In 2009, he moved to the private sector and started working at the law firm Willoughby & Hoefer in Columbia, South Carolina.
Political career Attorney General of South Carolina
Henry McMaster did not run for re-election as Attorney General, choosing instead to run for governor to succeed term-limited incumbent Mark Sanford. Wilson won the Republican nomination in a runoff election on June 22, 2010, receiving 60 percent of the vote against his opponent Leighton Lord. Wilson defeated Democratic nominee Matthew Richardson in the general election.
Wilson was re-elected in 2014, defeating the Democratic nominee, Parnell Diggs.Lillia Callum-Penso, Alan Wilson wins SC attorney general race, Greenville News (November 5, 2014).
Wilson was again re-elected to a third term in 2018. In the contentious Republican primary, Wilson faced two challengers for renomination, state Representative Todd Atwater and attorney William Herlong of Greenville.Joseph Cranney, AG Alan Wilson wins GOP nomination, overcomes contentious primary, Post & Courier (June 26, 2018). Both challengers focused on ethics issues, criticizing Wilson for his connections to the Quinns, who reached a plea deal after being embroiled in a Statehouse corruption investigation.Seanna Adcox, Alan Wilson wins 3rd term as SC's top prosecutor, Post & Courier. In the initial Republican primary, Wilson received 48.6%, Atwater received 29.7%, and Herlong received almost 22%; because no candidate received a majority, the nomination was decided by a primary runoff election.Tim Smith, GOP runoff for South Carolina Attorney General: Alan Wilson vs. Todd Atwater, The Greenville News (June 20, 2018). Although Herlong endorsed Atwater in the runoff, Wilson won renomination, receiving about 65% of the vote to Atwater's 35%. In the general election, Wilson received about 55% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Constance Anastopoulo.
2026 South Carolina gubernatorial campaign
On June 17, 2025, several news reports confirmed that Wilson would officially launch his campaign for governor. On June 23, 2025, Wilson formally announced his candidacy. Wilson, along with his running mate, state Senator Mike Reichenbach, received 26.2% of the vote, placing second in the gubernatorial primary to Lt. Governor Pamela Evette. However, no candidate received a majority, resulting in a runoff on June 23, 2026, in which Wilson defeated Evette. He was endorsed by U.S. Representatives Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, whom he defeated in the Republican primary.
Recognition Wilson ranked number 1 on the Post and Courier Columbia's 2025 Power List.
Political views Abortion A staunch opponent of abortion, Wilson defended a state law banning most abortions in South Carolina from a constitutional challenge.Meg Kinnard, Prosecutors seek validation of South Carolina abortion ban, Associated Press (March 2, 2021). In 2021, Wilson joined a U.S. Supreme Court filing calling on the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.Jessica Holdman, SC Attorney General Wilson joins in support of Mississippi abortion ban to Supreme Court, Post & Courier (July 30, 2021).David Travis Bland, SC's top prosecutor joins group to support abortion ban case in front of Supreme Court, The State (July 30, 2021).
Election integrity
Election-fraud claims On January 12, 2012, Wilson falsely claimed on Fox News that "We found out that there were over 900 people who died and then subsequently voted. That number could be even higher than that." These claims were untrue, and an exhaustive investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division found no evidence to support the claims of "zombie voters" in South Carolina.
Efforts to challenge 2020 presidential election outcome
In December 2020, Wilson joined a lawsuit by 16 Republican state attorneys general urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, specifically by challenging Joe Biden's victory in four states.South Carolina AG faces complaint over election challenge, Associated Press (January 23, 2021).John Monk, SC AG Wilson joins Texas in trying to nullify Biden election, The State (December 10, 2020). The suit was based on Donald Trump's false claim of election fraud. The next month, in advance of the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, the Republican Attorneys General Association, then chaired by Wilson, made robocalls encouraging "patriots" to march on Washington and demand that Congress overturn the election results and keep Trump in power. Wilson later acknowledged Biden as the election's winner on January 11, 2021.John Monk, SC's AG Alan Wilson: Biden is legitimate, Pence had no power to overturn election, The State (January 11, 2021). He said he was "completely unaware" of the Republican Attorneys General Association robocalls; the group's executive director, a former Wilson aide Adam Piper, resigned.
Five South Carolina attorneys subsequently filed complaints with the South Carolina Office of Disciplinary Counsel against Wilson, alleging that his participation in the Trump conspiracy lawsuit was an abuse of office that attempted to disenfranchise voters and had the effect of inflaming the subsequent protest. Wilson denied wrongdoing.John Monk, SC lawyers say SC AG Wilson participated in Trump conspiracy lawsuit, seek reprimand, The State (January 27, 2021).
COVID-19 pandemic
Wilson was one of 20 Republican state attorneys general who claimed that a portion of President Biden's COVID-19 relief package (specifically, a provision that states could not redirect federal stimulus money to reduce state tax rates) was unconstitutional.Alan Benson, SC Attorney General calls portion of Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan unconstitutional, Post & Courier (March 17, 2021).
In August 2021, ahead of the start of the 2021–2022 school year and amid an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state, Wilson said that the University of South Carolina could not implement indoor mask requirements for campus access. Wilson contended that a proviso (a type of state budget measure) passed by the General Assembly earlier that year prohibited such a mandate.John Monk & Lucas Daprile, USC can require masks on campus, SC supreme court rules, The State (August 19, 2021). After Wilson's intervention, the university dropped the requirement. However, later the same month, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that rejected Wilson's interpretation,Creswick v. Univ. of S. Carolina (August 17, 2021). and the University of South Carolina reinstated its mask mandate.
Wilson challenged the Joe Biden administration's vaccine requirement for large businesses.
Drug policy In January 2019, Wilson described cannabis as "the most dangerous drug, because it is the most misunderstood drug" in the United States while denouncing legislation that would allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana for patients. Wilson was one of 16 state attorneys general who did not support the SAFE Banking Act, which permitted the use of the banking system by cannabis-related businesses in states and territories in which cannabis is legal.Attorneys general from 33 states urge banking reform for pot industry, Associated Press, May 8, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
Wilson is the respondent of an ongoing lawsuit which alleges that Wilson and SLED denied a farmer due process when they destroyed his hemp farm.
Environmental policy In 2021, Wilson joined a Republican lawsuit challenging President Biden's order directing federal agencies to consider the costs of greenhouse gas pollution in making decisions.Sammy Fretwell, SC attorney general joins fight against Biden's recent climate change order, The State (March 9, 2021). Wilson also joined another lawsuit challenging Biden's decision to revoke the federal permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, an oil pipeline project 1,000 miles from South Carolina.Sammy Fretwell, SC attorney general joins lawsuit against Biden over Great Plains oil pipeline, The State (March 18, 2021).
Healthcare Wilson supported lawsuits to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration In July 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a group of Republican attorneys general from nine other states, including Wilson, plus Idaho Governor Butch Otter, in threatening that they would litigate against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that had been put into place by President Barack Obama.Tennessee’s attorney general: I’ve changed my mind, DACA is good, pass the DREAM Act, Vox.com, Dara Linddara, September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.Texas leads 10 states in urging Trump to end Obama-era immigration program, Texas Tribune, Julián Aguilar, June 29, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.SPLC denounces letter from 10 Attorneys General seeking "cruel and heartless" repeal of DACA, Southern Poverty Law Center, June 30, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
Same-sex marriage In 2014, Wilson asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to block the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the state. Wilson waged an exhaustive legal fight to block same-sex marriage in South Carolina, and in 2015, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ordered Wilson to pay more than $134,000 in attorneys' fees to plaintiffs who successfully challenged the state's ban on same-sex marriage.Eva Moore, Judge Orders Alan Wilson to Pay Attorneys' Fees in S.C. Same-Sex Marriage Case, Post & Courier (August 11, 2015).
Controversies Investigation of campaign contributions