David Pascoe

David Michael Pascoe (born March 2, 1967) is an American lawyer serving as the First Circuit Solicitor in the state of South Carolina since 2005. The First Circuit comprises Dorchester, Calhoun, and Orangeburg counties. In 2016, Pascoe won a Supreme Court case against the South Carolina Attorney General where the Attorney General attempted to remove Pascoe as the special prosecutor in a corruption probe involving the General Assembly. Pascoe oversaw the investigation and secured convictions on five powerful South Carolina General Assembly members that included the House speaker, President Pro Tem of the Senate, Chairman of the House Judiciary, and two former House Majority Leaders. Education, early career, and endorsements Pascoe is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He served as assistant state prosecutor from 1993 to 2005 successfully trying over 200 violent crimes. Included in those prosecutions is a "no body" case in which the Defendant was convicted of murder even though the victim's body was never found. He earned a reputation as being a hard line prosecutor on violent crimes but progressive in dealing with juvenile offenders and non-violent offenders. Pascoe is a Democrat who rarely gets involved in other candidate's elections, believing prosecutors should stay out of politics. Joe Biden is the only candidate Pascoe has ever endorsed. He endorsed Vice President Joe Biden for President on January 23, 2020. In his endorsement, Pascoe stated that he had personally known the Vice President for over a decade and "that he is the most decent man I have ever met in American politics". Pascoe was considered to be one of the frontrunners to become the U.S. Attorney for South Carolina under the Biden administration. First Circuit Solicitor After taking office in 2005, Pascoe immediately put a plan together to aggressively combat violent crime in the circuit while at the same time establishing a progressive agenda to curb juvenile crime. He implemented a number of new programs. He recruited churches and organizations to start a Youth Mentor Program. The First Circuit Solicitor's Youth Mentor Program was recognized by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice as the 2011 Diversion Program of the Year. Pascoe also implemented the Circuit's first youth and adult drug court programs.