RJ May wins runoff, will likely represent Lexington County at State House in 2021
After Lexington County voters hit the polls Tuesday to vote in the primary runoff, RJ May pulled ahead of Mike Sturkie in the race to claim South Carolina House District 88’s seat.
At 8:30 p.m., with all of the Lexington County precincts reporting, May held 1,378 votes while his opponent claimed 1,210.
May, who initally won fewer votes than Sturkie in the June primary, won precincts in the northern part of the district, including Red Bank, White Knoll, Emmanuel Church and Cedarcrest.
With no Democratic opponent lined up in November, the winner of the race will likely be headed to the State House next year to represent the district, barring a long-shot challenge from a petition or write-in candidate.
S.C.’s House District 88 seat was previously held by Mac Toole, who represented the Lexington County district since 2003. Toole, a Lexington Republican, decided not to run for reelection, and endorsed May to fill his seat.
The district includes southern parts of Lexington and South Congaree.
The owner of conservative firm Ivory Tusk Consulting, May, 33, had never run for office before competing in the June primary. In June, he secured about 25% of the total vote, falling behind Sturkie by about 10 percentage points, or about 500 points.
The political consultant, whose political credentials include working for the S.C. Club for Growth and Republican Catherine Templeton’s unsuccessful 2018 race for governor, focused on improving roads and infrastructure and bringing the economy back after the coronavirus on the campaign trail. He also touted his conservative values, and promised to defend the Second Amendment and push for allowing people to openly carry a hand gun in public, which is currently illegal in South Carolina. May also said he is pro-school choice and for cutting government spending.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
