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William Leighton Lord, III
On September 25, 2009, he announced his candidacy for the statewide office of attorney general, the seat vacated by Republican Henry McMaster's run for governor, in the 2010 election.[1]
Education
- B.A. University of Delaware (1986)
- J.D. Vanderbilt University (1989)
Professional experience
Shortly after graduating from law school, Lord worked as Republican Staff Counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, where he investigated criminal wrongdoing and was instrumental in helping draft legislation to combat a number of high-profile federal crimes, such as organized crime, money laundering and drug trafficking. He then returned to South Carolina where he worked for the Charlotte-based law firm of Nexsen Pruet focusing primarily on economic development cases. Later, Lord was named a managing partner at the private practice, which made him one of the youngest managing partners of a major law firm in the country.
Noteworthy events
Boeing tax breaks
The American Future Fund, a conservative advocacy group based out of Iowa, released a radio and television advertisement criticizing Republican South Carolina Attorney General candidate Leighton Lord for his role in securing a tax incentives package for airplane manufacturer Boeing Co. in exchange for them selecting North Charleston as the location for their new Dreamliner airplane plant. For the 3,800 jobs the company would add to the state's economy, South Carolina contributed $270 million in borrowed cash for the $750 million building itself, along with a grant of $5 million to cover site preparation. The state's Commerce Department estimated that while the deal cost South Carolina public taxpayers $353 million, it brought an influx of $5.2 billion into the economy. The ad, however, described the incentives package as a “bailout” and “sweetheart deal.”[2]
Lord, in response, said the commercial from the "shadowy" Washington Beltway organization distracted from the real issues of the attorney general campaign. He then went on to praise the deal that brought the Boeing aircraft plant to North Charleston as “one of the best deals to come to the state of South Carolina in over 50 years.”[2]
Elections
2010
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary[3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Michael Alan Wilson (R)
|
39.0%[4] | |||
| William Leighton Lord, III (R) | 37.1% | |||
| Robert Bolchoz (R) | 23.9% | |||
| Total votes | 385,312 | |||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary Runoff[5] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Michael Alan Wilson (R)
|
59.8% | |||
| William Leighton Lord, III (R) | 40.2% | |||
| Total votes | 343,874 | |||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Lord currently resides in South Carolina with his wife, Caroline Averyt. The couple has had three children together - Will, Owen, and Isabelle.
Contact information
Campaign Address:
PO Box 12288
Columbia, SC, 29211
Phone: (803) 315-5610
E-mail: LLord@nexsenpruet.com
See also
External links
- Leighton Lord's Facebook profile
- Leighton Lord's Twitter account
- Leightonlord.com 2010 Campaign website
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was used to recall this version of the website from June 11, 2010.
Footnotes
- ↑ The Post and Courier, "Leighton Lord throws hat in ring" 25 Sept. 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Greenville Online, "Attorney general candidate Leighton Lord defends role in bringing Boeing to S.C." 28 April, 2010
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission - 2010 Republican and Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ Even though Michael Alan Wilson received the most votes, he failed to receive over fifty percent of those votes required by South Carolina state law. A runoff election between the top two vote recipients, therefore, was required to decide who went on to the general election.
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission - 2010 Republican and Democratic Primary Runoff Election Results
