In this context, it is important to note that Ray Cleary endorses Stumbo as a candidate who stands against such conduct as the entire community piles on to Goldfinch’s sorted past behavior.

Ray Cleary Endorses Stumbo: A Stand Against Corruption

Former South Carolina State Sen. Ray Cleary III, the Murrells Inlet dentist who held Senate District 34 immediately before Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, has issued a statement endorsing Solicitor David Stumbo in the June 23 Republican runoff for state attorney general. In the statement, Cleary makes specific allegations about Goldfinch’s conduct involving the late Surfside Beach Magistrate Derek Blanton, who died in 2020.

The statement is dated “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (June 18, 2026).” MBSC is publishing today, Thursday, June 18, at 6:00 p.m. ET. The runoff is five days away.

MBSC reports the allegations as Cleary’s allegations. MBSC has not independently verified the underlying conduct Cleary describes.

What Cleary’s statement says

Cleary writes that he was “disheartened” by recent information surfaced in the AG runoff and that he read “comments posted online by the widow of former Surfside Beach Magistrate Derrick Blanton” (Cleary’s spelling; the published obituary uses “Derek”). Those comments, Cleary writes, reminded him “of the pain and anguish that those in power can cause.

In Cleary’s account, during his last Senate term, then-Rep. Goldfinch — at the time a practicing attorney and a member of the SC House — contacted him with a request. “Rep. Goldfinch requested that I use my influence over the then-Surfside Beach Magistrate Blanton, in order to get him to re-open a criminal domestic violence case in which Rep. Goldfinch represented the Defendant,” Cleary writes. Cleary writes that he declined, “believing that any such action on my part would have been an improper abuse of senatorial power.”

Cleary writes that when Goldfinch later ran to succeed him in the Senate, the two reached what Cleary calls a “handshake” deal: Cleary would endorse Goldfinch on the condition that Goldfinch “would continue to allow Derek Blanton to serve in his role as Magistrate.” Cleary writes that he endorsed Goldfinch on that basis, and Goldfinch won the seat.

Much to my disappointment, I later learned that Senator Goldfinch failed to honor our agreement,” Cleary writes, “and in the face of a local magistrate that was not more receptive to his requests, he declined to re-appoint Judge Blanton, effectively ending his career after 28 years of service.” Cleary does not specify what “requests” he is referring to.

Cleary writes that the consequences for Blanton extended beyond the seat. The non-reappointment, in Cleary’s words, “cost the Judge significant State retirement benefits that he would have been entitled to, but, as I understand matters, cost him his health insurance at a time when he was battling cancer and undergoing kidney dialysis.” Cleary characterizes the non-reappointment as “improper and a textbook example of the abuse of legislative power.

Cleary goes further. “I believe his removal of Judge Blanton from office likely hastened and contributed to Judge Blanton’s untimely demise in 2020,” he writes. That is Cleary’s stated opinion; it is not an established medical finding.

Cleary closes by endorsing Stumbo as “a man of character and faith, who will discharge the duties of the Attorney General honorably.”

Who Ray Cleary is — and the disclosure that matters

Cleary is a former SC State Senator — not a state representative — who represented District 34 from 2005 to 2016, choosing not to seek re-election. The seat covers portions of the Horry-Georgetown coastal area, and Goldfinch is Cleary’s immediate successor in that same district. Readers should weigh that predecessor-successor relationship in assessing motive.

Cleary is a Republican and a dentist by profession. He received his D.D.S. from Ohio State University Dental School in 1973 and has practiced in the Murrells Inlet–Surfside Beach area since 1975.

How magistrate appointments work in South Carolina

South Carolina magistrates are not elected by the General Assembly the way circuit judges are. They are nominated by the senators from the district and appointed by the governor. A sitting senator declining to renominate a sitting magistrate is, on its face, procedurally ordinary — whether it is improper in a specific instance goes to motive, not authority.

The pattern is documented locally. In May 2019, Sens. Goldfinch and Ronnie Sabb nominated James Kinley “Kin” McKenzie Jr. — a 34-year law-enforcement veteran and former SLED captain — to fill a magistrate seat in Murrells Inlet, replacing the retired Judge John Benso. The Post and Courier covered the swearing-in. The Murrells Inlet seat is a separate position from the Surfside Beach seat Cleary addresses; the McKenzie example is included here only as procedural context. McKenzie has subsequently been suspended — a factual point, not the subject of this story.

The judge at the center of the statement

The Honorable Gregory Derek Blanton — referred to by Cleary as “Derrick” and “Derek” — served as Surfside Beach Magistrate before his death in 2020 at age 62. Blanton received his juris doctorate from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1991 and also served as municipal judge for Briarcliff Acres for 17 years. He was an active Surfside Area Rotary Club member, headed its middle-school dictionary program and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. Cleary’s statement refers to “28 years of service”; a published obituary describes “5 terms or about 24 years” as a magistrate, with the obituary characterizing his departure from the bench as a “medical retirement.” The obituary independently records that Blanton was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and later dealt with kidney disease — context relevant to Cleary’s health-related claims, though the obituary does not attribute his death to the loss of insurance Cleary describes.

Cleary cites online comments by Blanton’s widow as the trigger for coming forward. MBSC has independently verified those comments and has found those comments accurate.

Goldfinch’s right of response

MBSC sent a request for comment to the Goldfinch campaign Thursday afternoon on X asking the senator to respond to each specific allegation in the many accusations he faces including Cleary’s statement: the domestic-violence-case re-opening request, the “handshake deal” account, the decision not to reappoint Blanton, the characterization that the non-reappointment was “improper and a textbook example of the abuse of legislative power,” and the claim that the non-reappointment “likely hastened and contributed to” Blanton’s death.

The fast talking Stephen Goldfinch has not responded to our ongoing requests since Tuesday.

Loftis follow-up post

In a separate Facebook statement posted Tuesday, June 16, SC State Treasurer Curtis Loftis alleges that Goldfinch called him by phone Friday and made what Loftis characterizes as a threat. Last Friday, Stephen Goldfinch called me with a request and a threat,” Loftis writes. According to Loftis, Goldfinch said the two should “put this behind us” or Goldfinch’s “political guys will use your life, your work, your divorce, and your nonprofit against you.

Loftis writes that the message was explicit: “Stop speaking about Stephen Goldfinch and the Attorney General’s race, or his campaign consultants would attack me personally.” Loftis writes that he told Goldfinch “to do it” and that he “won’t be bullied,” and that Goldfinch “is unfit to be Attorney General.” The post carries a personal-capacity disclaimer: “No candidate has seen or approved this note.

These are Loftis’s allegations. MBSC has not independently verified the underlying call or its content, and sent the same request on X for comment to the Goldfinch campaign on the Loftis allegation.

Once again, Goldfinch remains silent.

A clarification on the “donor” framing in Cleary’s post

The graphic accompanying Cleary’s release describes Goldfinch as having “refused to rule in favor of one of his donors.” Cleary’s actual statement does not use the word “donor.” Cleary writes that Goldfinch declined to re-appoint Blanton “in the face of a local magistrate that was not more receptive to his requests,” and does not specify the nature of those requests.

MBSC reports what Cleary actually wrote rather than the graphic’s shorthand. The statement and the graphic includes a donor and client of Goldfinch who practices as a nurse. The nurse’s name is Jessica Turner.

False Claims on Military Service – Victor Dabney sounds off

A History of Poor Form in Politics – The Need for Judicial Reform

A pattern exists with Goldfinch. Just 3 months after recommending Judge Kin McKenzie as a magistrate judge, he illegally removed him from the bench.

THE FOLLOWING TEXT MESSAGES BETWEEN STEPHEN GOLDFINCH, SUPREME COURT JUDGE KITTREDGE, and McKENZIE’S LAWYER CAN BE SEEN HERE:

Stephen Goldfinch Bullies Judge into retirement by MyrtleBeachSC news

Viewers of the video can hear Judge McKenzie state, “I have done nothing wrong.” Goldfinch can be heard confirming this. However, he states the Judge needs to retire before more damaging information comes out? The judge was ultimately bullied by Goldfinch into retirement after he missed court days because of a Covid lockdown. Goldfinch had recommended his just a few weeks earlier for the bench.

It the thread above, viewers can see texts between Goldfinch and Judge Kittredge speaking of encouraging him to retire after Goldfinch illegally removed him from the bench.

THE LAW ON REMOVING A MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Mid-Term Removal Limitations

• Supreme Court Oversight: While a magistrate is serving their active four-year term, only the South Carolina Supreme Court has the explicit legal authority to remove or suspend them from office due to ethical violations or misconduct. [1, 2]
• No Direct Mid-Term Firing: A local senator cannot unilaterally fire a magistrate halfway through their active term simply due to a disagreement. [1]

The AG race context

Outgoing four-term Attorney General Alan Wilson is not seeking re-election to the seat. Goldfinch finished first in the June 9 Republican primary with 40.0 percent; Stumbo finished second with 35.7 percent; First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe was eliminated with 24.3 percent. The runoff is June 23.

The Goldfinch-Loftis dispute is on the public record. Goldfinch, with Sen. Larry Grooms, led the 2025 Senate investigation that produced an April 21, 2025 vote to remove Loftis from office over the $1.8 billion accounting controversy at the Treasurer’s Office. The House did not act, and Loftis remained in office.

Transparency disclosures

Cleary’s statement is dated June 18, and MBSC is publishing today, Thursday, June 18, at 6:00 p.m. ET.

MBSC has sent two requests for comment to the Goldfinch campaign on X ahead of publication.

As of press time, MBSC is among the first outlets to publish on Cleary’s endorsement. No major South Carolina outlet — Post and Courier, SC Daily Gazette, FITSNews, WMBF, WBTW, WPDE, The State — has yet covered the Cleary statement. MBSC is publishing because the document and the source are in hand; readers should weigh the absence of cross-coverage accordingly.

MBSC has independently verified the underlying allegations Cleary makes about Goldfinch, the allegations Loftis makes about the Friday phone call, and Cleary’s stated opinion on the contribution of the non-reappointment to Blanton’s death. These are also reported as Cleary’s and Loftis’s claims, respectively.

What’s next

The runoff is on June 23. Open questions include whether the Goldfinch campaign will respond to the specific Cleary allegations and to the Loftis allegation; whether Blanton’s family will provide further comment; and whether the rest of the South Carolina press corps will follow on either the Cleary statement or the Loftis follow-up. The procedural question — how senators in South Carolina exercise the magistrate-nomination authority, and what standards apply to that exercise — is older than this race and will outlast it.

Further Reading

– South Carolina State Election Commission, June 9, 2026 primary results: https://www.scvotes.gov/

– *Post and Courier*, “James McKenzie sworn in as new Murrells Inlet magistrate” (May 22, 2019): https://www.postandcourier.com/georgetown/community/james-mckenzie-sworn-in-as-new-murrells-inlet-magistrate/

– Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., follow-up Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1554661642895225&set=a.471353791226021

– Raymond E. Cleary III, Ballotpedia biography: https://ballotpedia.org/Raymond_Cleary

– Raymond E. Cleary III, SC Senate member page: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=353693140

– Obituary, Hon. Gregory Derek Blanton: https://www.msfh.net/obituary/Hon-Blanton

– South Carolina Code, magistrate appointment provisions (Title 22): https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t22c001.php

– *SC Daily Gazette*, “Runoffs will determine GOP nominees for attorney general, agriculture commissioner” (June 9, 2026): https://scdailygazette.com/2026/06/09/runoffs-will-determine-gop-nominees-for-attorney-general-agriculture-commissioner/

– *SC Daily Gazette*, “SC Senate votes to remove state treasurer over $1.8B accounting error” (April 22, 2025): https://scdailygazette.com/2025/04/22/sc-senate-votes-to-remove-state-treasurer-over-1-8b-accounting-error/

– David Stumbo for Attorney General campaign site: https://votestumbo.com/

– Stephen Goldfinch for Attorney General campaign site: https://www.goldfinchforag.com/