Catherine Templeton selects Walt Wilkins as running mate
Republican gubernatorial candidate Catherine Templeton announced Upstate solicitor Walt Wilkins as her running mate.
In the first election where South Carolinians will vote for governor and lieutenant governor as a ticket, Templeton says Wilkins brings valuable experience as a prosecutor where the state needs it most.
“Two of our state’s top problems are corruption and crime,” said Templeton. “Walt’s wheelhouse is all of the very important things that keep us safe in South Carolina, and we’re going to work in partnership on those things.”
Wilkins, 44, is a Greenville native and previously served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina before being elected Thirteenth District Solicitor. Throughout his career, Wilkins helped infiltrate and dismantle some of South Carolina’s most violent gangs including the Crips, Bloods, MS13, and the Latin Kings; prosecuted and helped deport hundreds of illegal immigrants; participated in the largest illegal immigration raid in South Carolina history; and oversaw the prosecution and imprisonment of convicted radical Islamic terrorist Abdullah al-Muhajir.
Templeton said Wilkins will act as a “crime and corruption czar” in her administration. “Walt doesn’t owe anybody anything,” Templeton said. “Walt is the law-and-order candidate who can come in and actually crush public corruption.”
Templeton is making her first run for public office. She was one of the first people former Gov. Nikki Haley asked to join her in making it “a great day in South Carolina.” Templeton served as Secretary of Labor at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and later was director of the Department of Health and Environmental Control under Haley. Templeton’s time in those positions earned her the nickname of “buzzsaw” for doing what others had been unable to accomplish: cutting reams of red tape, firing scores of entrenched bureaucrats, and saving South Carolina taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
In late 2016, President Donald Trump called Templeton to Trump Tower to discuss a position in his administration. Templeton was described as a “triple threat” by Trump’s team for her record of proven accomplishments and reforms.
Now, Templeton is ready to take her “buzzsaw” to all of state government as governor. And she said Walt Wilkins is the perfect partner for helping implement her conservative vision.
“We represent a new generation of conservative leadership,” said Templeton. “We’re willing to take on the good old boys and the corrupt establishment. We won’t back down.”