District 88 special election is an expectations game in Lexington County. Here’s why
Voters in part of Lexington County get to go the polls one more time this year.
Specifically those in state House District 88, the seat previously held by former state Rep. RJ May, who resigned in August before pleading guilty in federal court to distributing child pornography.
Now Democratic nominee Chuck Hightower, a retired Army colonel, and Republican nominee John Lastinger, a pastor at the EDGE Church, are facing off in a Dec. 23 election to complete May’s unfinished term. Early voting runs through Dec. 19.
It’s a heavily Republican district that has only had a Democratic candidate for the State House one other time since 2008.
In 2024, President Donald Trump carried 67% of the vote in the district. Former Vice President Kamala Harris had 32% of the vote. No Democratic nominee for state House ran in the district.
The 35-point margin will be a measuring stick for how strong the operations are for the county parties and their nominees in a year when Democrats have performed well in elections across the country and outperformed expectations.
Even though Lastinger is expected to win the seat, the margin of victory will be watched.
“It is a red district, but with all the controversy that’s occurred, we’re sure that our friends on the Democratic side are going to try to use that to harm the Republicans chances of maintaining that seat,” said Lexington County GOP Chairman Mark Weber referring to the May arrest.
“Democrats have put (up) a candidate out that on paper looks good, but in my mind, in the mind of any conservative, he’s not the choice for the district,” Weber added.
Those stumping for votes have the added challenge of a special election that is two days before Christmas as campaigns have to educate voters to get to the polls.
“Having a special election on the 23rd is not optimal for anybody and everyone has other focuses, and these times it gets even more and more busy life does,” Weber said.
The Lexington County Republican Party, which in recent years has had public spats among the party leadership, has been writing postcards to turn out the vote.
“In special elections, usually without prompting, the only people that are really going to turn out are the ones that are already engaged in some way. And so using lists that we can get a hold of, for, high-propensity Republican voters, to get them to turn out is the focus,” Weber said.
Weber dismisses thoughts that a smaller than expected margin of victory would be a warning sign for his party because the timing of the election two days before Christmas where turnout will likely be low.
“I think that percentage kind of starts to go out the window a little bit more,” Weber said. “If it’s a normal election, you can apply normal metrics to the situation, like a presidential election, or a traditional November election.”
This is third time this year Lastinger is asking supporters to vote for him.
Lastinger finished first in a four-person GOP primary Oct. 21 but didn’t receive a majority of votes to clinch the nomination. He defeated Brian Duncan in a runoff election two weeks later.
Now as the Republican nominee, Lastinger again has to ask voters to check a box next to his name, by again making phone calls, knocking on doors and sending out mailers.
“Basically, we’re doing all the above all over again. It’s not the first time for sure, so we can’t know what to expect, but it is time-consuming, and just thank God for the volunteers that are helping, because we’re having to do it time and again,” Lastinger said.
As Lastinger campaigns around the district, he says some people already recognize him as he walks up to their door, but his message is the same, and he allows voters to share their concerns.
“I tell them I’m conservative, Republican, and we definitely want to keep this seat conservative. We want those conservative values at the state house,” Lastinger said. “Everybody’s concerned about the growth in Lexington County and roads and those things have come up. But I think overall, the people that we’ve been talking to, they just want to see a continuation of the Republican, conservative, moral Christian values established and to actually increase.”
Democratic efforts
Democrats in Lexington County see the race as an opportunity to energize its voters and give them a ray of hope in a red area, and getting Democratic voters engaged with the county party.
“It’s really about understanding there are other options. I know there are folks who feel we don’t have too many choices, so it’s we just have to pick whomever, or don’t go or don’t turn up too low at all, and letting folks know like that’s that’s not the case,” said M. Greg Green, the chairman of the Lexington County Democratic Party.
“I think getting people to show up and vote is my biggest goal, because if I can get Lexington Democrats to show up on the 23rd of December, I know I can get them to show up next November,” Green added.
The party and Hightower are making phone calls, sending postcards, using social media, going door to door and giving voters fliers and palm cards.
“Really moving how we do things to reach a broader audience and making sure we still reach a lot of those base Democrats that are in Lexington (County) and have been for a long time that want that face-to-face time,” Green said.
The Richland County Democratic Party also has helped in the race. Along with the Lexington County Democrats and Hightower’s campaign, about 20 to 30 people have been helping promote Hightower’s campaign, Green said.
“We can talk about fixing the roads., we can talk about transportation getting out to Lexington County to get folks into downtown Columbia, affordability. We talk about all of those things, I think the key is we have someone who’s able to really reach across the aisle,” Green said. “Chuck’s a veteran, and he has experience with so many different personalities, different people.”
Hightower tells voters he’s running to address health issues, education and veterans concerns while also projecting confidence that he can win the race.
“There is an opportunity to pull this off, and for one primary reason, so often, we had folks that represent District 88, and it’s just a picture on a pictorial, and I told right up front that the seat doesn’t belong to me. Belongs to you. I work for you,” Hightower said.
Hightower, who previously ran for the Lexington Two school board, doesn’t even allow the attitude that he has little chance of winning.
“I don’t want to hear long shots. I don’t want to hear this is tough. I don’t hear any of that,” Hightower said. “What I want to hear is victory on the 23rd of December. And if we don’t think that way, we don’t work hard enough to get that objective.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
