RJ May
RJ May (Republican Party) was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 88. He assumed office on November 9, 2020. He left office on August 11, 2025.
May (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 88. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
RJ May was born in Newport News, Virginia, and lives in West Columbia, South Carolina. May earned a B.A. from the University of South Carolina and an M.A. from Tel Aviv University. His career experience includes founding and owning Ivory Tusk Consulting.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
May was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
May was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
Incumbent RJ May won election in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | RJ May (R) | 92.2 | 13,020 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 7.8 | 1,104 | ||
| Total votes: 14,124 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jeremy Jones (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
Incumbent RJ May defeated Lorelei Graye in the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on June 11, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | RJ May | 68.2 | 2,513 |
| Lorelei Graye | 31.8 | 1,172 | ||
| Total votes: 3,685 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
May received the following endorsements.
Pledges
May signed the following pledges.
2022
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
Incumbent RJ May defeated Daniel Shrief in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | RJ May (R) | 70.1 | 8,304 |
 | Daniel Shrief (D) | 29.8 | 3,531 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 12 | ||
| Total votes: 11,847 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Daniel Shrief advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent RJ May advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88.
2020
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
RJ May won election in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | RJ May (R) | 97.1 | 14,962 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.9 | 452 | ||
| Total votes: 15,414 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
RJ May defeated Michael Sturkie in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | RJ May | 53.2 | 1,378 |
| Michael Sturkie | 46.8 | 1,210 | ||
| Total votes: 2,588 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88
Michael Sturkie and RJ May advanced to a runoff. They defeated John Lastinger, Brian Duncan, and Eddie McCain in the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michael Sturkie | 34.6 | 1,788 | |
| ✔ | | RJ May | 24.5 | 1,268 |
| John Lastinger | 17.2 | 888 | ||
| Brian Duncan | 13.9 | 720 | ||
 | Eddie McCain | 9.8 | 504 | |
| Total votes: 5,168 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
RJ May did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
RJ May did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
RJ May did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Carolina scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 9.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 11.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 12.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 13.
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Noteworthy events
Suspended from state House after indictment on charges of child sexual abuse material (2025)
May was charged with 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material according to federal documents unsealed on June 12, 2025. The charges were in connection to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.[2] In accordance with state law, House Speaker G. Murrell Smith Jr. (R) suspended May from the House shortly after he was indicted.[3][4] As of June 12, 2025, May's attorney had not released a comment on the charges.[5]
On August 11, 2025, May resigned from state legislature, saying, "I have decided that it is in the best interest of my family and constituents to resign immediately from the South Carolina House of Representatives. Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from the South Carolina House of Representatives. It has been an honor to serve the people of District 88."[6]
On September 26, 2025, May signed a plea agreement to change his plea from not guilty to guilty on five counts.[7] The prosecution agreed to drop the other five counts.[8] In a subsequent hearing on September 29, the plea was formally processed.[8] His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 14, 2026.[8]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina Legislature Online, "Representative Robert J. "RJ" May, III," accessed March 29, 2021
- ↑ The Daily Herald, "S.C. lawmaker RJ May, aka joebidennnn69, indicted in child porn," June 11, 2025
- ↑ Justia U.S. Law, "2024 South Carolina Code of Laws Title 8," accessed June 13, 2025
- ↑ News Channel 20, "2025 suspension," accessed June 13, 2025
- ↑ South Carolina Daily Gazette, "SC representative charged with distributing child sexual abuse material," June 12, 2025
- ↑ News 19, “Suspended South Carolina lawmaker RJ May resigns amid federal indictment" accessed August 13, 2025
- ↑ AP News, "GOP lawmaker with ‘joebidennnn69' screen name to plead guilty to sharing child sex abuse videos," accessed September 29, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Yahoo! News, "Former Rep. RJ May pleads guilty to sending ‘disgusting and depraved’ child sex abuse videos" accessed September 29, 2025
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by McLain Toole (R) |
South Carolina House of Representatives District 88 2020-2025 |
Succeeded by - |
