Trey Gowdy

Trey Gowdy is married to Terri Dillard Gowdy, and they have two children: Watson and Abigail. Terri is a teacher’s aide in Spartanburg School District 7. Watson is a junior at Spartanburg High School, and Abigail is a 7th grader at McCracken Junior High School. Abigail is involved in theatre, music, swimming and everything involving animals. Watson is an avid golfer and has played for Spartanburg High School on either the Varsity or Jr. Varsity teams since the 7th grade. The Gowdys have two dogs: “Judge” and “Jury”.

Trey was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1964. His parents, Dr. Hal and Novalene Gowdy, were originally from Lake City, South Carolina in the Pee Dee region before moving to the Upstate where Dr. Gowdy was a pediatrician in Spartanburg for more than 25 years. Trey has three sisters, 4 nieces, and 4 nephews.

Trey graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1982, Baylor University in 1986 with a degree in History, and the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1989 where he was a member of the scholastic honor society “Order of the Wig and Robe”.

Following law school, he clerked for the late John P. Gardner on the South Carolina Court of Appeals and United States District Court Judge G. Ross Anderson, Jr. in Anderson, SC. He then joined the law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley, and Scarborough in the Greenville Office before becoming a federal prosecutor in April of 1994.

For 6 years as a federal prosecutor in Greenville, Trey prosecuted the full range of federal crimes including narcotics trafficking rings, bank robberies, child pornography cases, and the murder of a federal witness. He was awarded the Postal Inspector’s Award for the successful prosecution of J. Mark Allen, one of “America’s Most Wanted” suspects. He also received the highest performance rating a federal prosecutor can receive – two years in a row.

In February of 2000, he left the United States Attorney’s Office to run for 7th Circuit Solicitor. He defeated the incumbent Solicitor in the Republican primary and was elected in November 2000 without opposition. He has been re-elected twice – in 2004 and 2008 – without opposition. Since becoming Solicitor, he has led an office of 25 attorneys and 65 total employees. He started a Violence Against Women Task Force, a Worthless Check Program, enhanced and expanded Drug Court, and started a Drug Mother Protocol designed to assist expectant mothers break the cycle of addiction.

He has been recognized statewide for his commitment to victim’s rights, drunken driving enforcement, and nationally for excellence in death penalty prosecutions. He has appeared on “Forensic Files” twice, Court TV, Dateline and ETV.

Working with Governor Sanford, MADD, and law enforcement to give South Carolina a stronger, more effective drunk driving law.

Education is one of the best ways to prevent crime. For this reason, we partnered with the school districts in Spartanburg County to establish “Truancy Court” which is designed to keep parents involved and engaged and children in school, ready to learn, and on time to graduate.

We partnered with U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins, federal, state and local law enforcement to take weapons out of the hands of criminals before they commit violent crimes in a program called “Summer of Silence”.

Our three month partnership with law enforcement yields multiple arrests, lengthy sentences, and scores of weapons off the street.

Recognizing law enforcement’s efforts to make our roadways safer through DUI enforcement.