By Jessica Holdman and Seanna Adcox
COLUMBIA — Former GOP powerbroker Richard Quinn Sr., whose advice catapulted careers as he helped build South Carolina’s Republican majority, has died. He was 79.
Quinn died Thursday morning, March 21, at Lexington Medical Center surrounded by family, longtime friend Bill Stern, chairman of the State Ports Authority, told the S.C. Daily Gazette.
A cause of death was not disclosed, but the one-time kingmaker and go-to lobbyist, who got caught up in a Statehouse corruption investigation that ended his sway over state politics, had been in declining health for years.
Friends remembered him as a soft-spoken, gentle soul who put family first and whose legacy extended far beyond the people he put in office.
“It’s a huge loss for our state. We all lost a very dear friend,” said Stern, whose friendship with Quinn dates back to his initial 2000 appointment to the State Ports Authority, a Quinn client.
“He was the man. He was bigger than life. When it came to consultants, he was in a league of his own,” Stern said. “But first and foremost, he was a family man. He loved his family dearly.”
For decades, Quinn was seen as the state’s most influential political and business consultant, helping elect governors, attorneys general, and state and federal lawmakers. He was an instrumental figure in South Carolina’s first-in-the-South contest in determining the GOP presidential nominee. And his deal-making extended beyond political campaigns to major businesses and state agencies such as the University of South Carolina.
His lengthy client list included the late Sen. John McCain, who lost the state’s GOP presidential contest in 2000 but won in 2008, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won the state in 2012. Other Republicans who can credit wins to Quinn include the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, his son Attorney General Alan Wilson, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“Richard was exceptionally bright and had a keen political mind,” Graham said in a statement. “He helped me get my start in South Carolina politics and was instrumental in building the modern Republican Party. Richard was a force in South Carolina politics for decades.”
Gov. Henry McMaster, also a client for many years over various campaigns, called Quinn “one of the finest men I’ve ever known.
“Richard Quinn was brilliant, generous, compassionate — and devoted to his family and friends,” McMaster said in a statement. “His contributions to our state’s progress are immeasurable. He was my friend.”
Quinn’s height of power came in the 1990s, amid South Carolina’s Republican takeover of state government.
His fall came in 2017 when he and the firm he founded, Richard Quinn & Associates, were swept into a years-long Statehouse corruption probe that resulted in the indictment of six GOP state legislators, including Quinn’s son. Only one went to prison. Others resigned as part of plea deals, received probation and paid fines.
It was through his investigation of Quinn that First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe came to know the man beyond his reputation as a political kingmaker. The Democrat was tapped as special prosecutor for the Statehouse probe in 2014 by Alan Wilson, who at the time cited an unspecified conflict of interest, which turned out to be Quinn.
“Two things I remember about him with his death today are how much he loved his family and that he was a prominent figure in South Carolina politics,” Pascoe said, adding that his prayers were with the family.
Wilson referred to Quinn as a “titan in South Carolina politics.”
He, too, used the term “brilliant.”
“He was a brilliant strategist whose contributions to our state will be felt for decades,” Wilson said. “I knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was an amazing man whose loss will be felt by many.”
His brilliance may have contributed to his downfall.
The millions of dollars Quinn collected and spent on clients’ behalf became central to the Statehouse investigation that started with the 2014 prosecution of the longtime state House speaker. In 2017, a grand jury indicted Quinn on charges of criminal conspiracy and failure to register as a lobbyist. He and his son, former House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, struck plea deals that required the senior Quinn to testify before a grand jury.
It was during that testimony in 2018 that prosecutors accused him of lying, leading to a new round of criminal charges — 11 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Quinn in 2023 entered an Alford plea, in which he did not admit guilt but agreed a jury would likely convict him.
Aging and in poor health, a judge sentenced him to 18 months of home detention.
Stern said the ordeal still angers him.
“It’s sad that’s how he ended his life with that hanging over him. Personally, I was outraged and disappointed, as a lot of his friends were,” he said, adding that Quinn saw it as politics. “He dealt with that with dignity and took it in stride.”
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
Seanna Adcox is a South Carolina native with three decades of reporting experience. She joined States Newsroom in September 2023 after covering the S.C. Legislature and state politics for 18 years. Her previous employers include The Post and Courier and The Associated Press.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
