Lexington County Republican Party Endorses Candidates in Upcoming Primaries

The Monday, May 6th monthly meeting of the Lexington County Republican Party (LCRP) drew an overflow crowd that included twenty-three candidates in the upcoming June 11 Primary. After the candidates gave their stump speeches, the LCRP Executive Committee voted to endorse candidates in selected races.

“The mission statement for the Republican Party is to Promote our Platform and elect candidates who support it,” said Chairman Mark Weber. “To that end, our endorsement committee went through great lengths to create questionnaires, get responses, discuss and if necessary, interview candidates, prior to making recommendations.”

Weber added “those recommendations were voted on and accepted by the full executive committee. These candidates now have the LCRP’s full support in the June primaries.”

The party did not endorse in every race and only those who completed the survey were eligible for an endorsement. The selected candidates each won by a large margin. The LCRP Executive Committee endorsed the following:

• State Rep. Joe White, House District 40

• State Rep. Jay Kilmartin, House District 85

• State Rep. RJ May, House District 88

• State Rep. Ryan McCabe, House District 96

• State Sen. Billy Garrett, Senate District 10

• Zoe Warren, Senate District 23

• Chris Smith, Senate District 26

• Billy Warren, Sheriff

• Councilman Scott Whetstone, County Council District 1

• Councilman Darrell Hudson, County Council District 3

• Doug Leonard, County Council District 4

• Councilman Gene “Bimbo” Jones, County Council District 5

• Councilwoman Charli Wessinger, County Council District 6

“The LCRP conducted itself very well during this process and it went as well as possible,” Weber said. “These full-scale endorsements of different races are a first in Lexington County to my knowledge, and the process had overwhelming approval from the body. The ability to endorse candidates is allowed in our state and we are excited to continue to use every lever to affect our communities, state and country.”