SC AG lays out economic plans as gov candidate

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster formally entered the GOP race for governor Tuesday with veiled criticism of Gov. Mark Sanford, though the state's top prosecutor stopped short of calling for the Republican governor's resignation.

At a news conference, McMaster offered general plans for fixing a state economy that's been wrecked by high unemployment during Sanford's final term. McMaster's concepts, which contained few specifics, included plans such as getting the best people running the state's economic development agency, involving business leaders to chart a business-friendly course for the state and improving worker skills and literacy.

McMaster said all that taxpayers want is an opportunity to succeed.

"All they seem to get is leaders who let them down," McMaster said. "There's been too much dishonesty and too many scandals in public life. Instead of mature leadership, dedicated to bringing people together, what we have is bickering, political posturing and gridlock."

South Carolina's unemployment rate fell slightly in July to 11.8 percent. That was the first improvement since January 2008 and only a slight decrease from June's rate of 12.1 percent, an all-time high for the state and the nation's fourth-highest at the time.

McMaster said the state needs to focus on getting back on the road to recovery.

"I think any kind of turmoil in the state — any kind of turmoil — discourages business," McMaster said. "Businesses do not like uncertainty."

McMaster joins an increasingly crowded fielded looking to succeed Sanford, whose travel has come under increased scrutiny since he revealed a yearlong affair with an Argentine woman in June. Officials have questioned the legality of the governor's flights in pricey, state-funded commercial airline seats, on state aircraft and on undisclosed trips on private planes.

McMaster has asked the South Carolina Ethics Commission to investigate the travel. Two GOP primary rivals — U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and state Sen. Larry Grooms of Bonneau — have called on Sanford to resign, but McMaster hasn't.

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"That's up to Governor Sanford. I'll trust that he will do the right thing," McMaster said Tuesday.

Sanford is limited to two terms and leaves office in 2011.

McMaster has been raising money for more than a year for a possible re-election bid for attorney general. His campaign reported $1.2 million on hand at end of the second quarter in June, and he can now use that money to run for governor.

Because of his profile and statewide office, McMaster has immediately become the race's front-runner, said Furman University political scientist Danielle Vinson.

State Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington is also running. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is considering a bid.