Lexington County voters narrow down choices to succeed RJ May in SC House
Lexington County Republican voters in state House District 88 will have to return to the polls one more time to pick their nominee, as none of the four candidates received a majority of votes in Tuesday’s primary.
According to unofficial results, John Lastinger and Brian Duncan will head to a runoff Nov. 4, because no candidate received a majority of the votes cast. Early voting will be Oct. 29-31.
- Lastinger received 596 votes (40.05%)
- Duncan received 565 votes (37.97%)
- Lorelei Graye received 225 votes (15.12%)
- Darren E Rogers Sr. received 102 votes (6.85%)
The race between and Duncan and Lastinger sets up a battle between a candidate working with the House GOP Caucus’ communication strategists and a candidate backed by at least one member of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus.
The winner of the runoff will face Joseph “Chuck” Hightower, a retired Army colonel, who was the only Democrat to run for the seat. The GOP nominee will be the favorite in the race in the district that is heavily Republican. President Donald Trump carried 67% of the vote in the district in the 2024 election. That special election is Dec. 23.
The seat is open because former state Rep. RJ May resigned from the Lexington County seat after he was indicted in federal court for distributing child pornography. May, who was a driving force behind the hard-line Freedom Caucus, has since pleaded guilty, and is awaiting sentencing.
Duncan went into Tuesday’s primary with the cash advantage. Duncan raised $6,100 in the third quarter, lent $16,000 to his campaign and only spent about $700, to give him $22,000 cash on hand, as of Oct. 1, Ethics Commission reports say.
He also unsuccessfully ran as a write-in candidate in the 2024 race against May. May was alone on the ballot, but still had 1,100 write-in votes against him as he was under federal investigation.
Duncan was critical of May while he was under investigation. Duncan also kept his campaign active before May’s indictment, anticipating the seat would open up. Duncan has been working with Starboard Communications, which serves as the House GOP communications strategists.
The House GOP Caucus, however, did not formally back any candidate in the District 88 race. The caucus supported Graye’s unsuccessful primary bid 2024 against May.
Lastinger is a pastor at The Edge Church in West Columbia and had the support of state Rep. Jay Kilmartin, R-Lexington, a member of the Freedom Caucus. As of Oct. 1, he raised $4,900 for his bid and spent about $3,600, according to ethics commission reports.
Graye raised more than $1,300, but $1,000 was from her own money. She had spent more than $850 as of Oct. 1. Rogers raised $2,800 and spent $324 as of Oct. 1.
