S.C. Senator Josh Kimbrell: 2026 Gubernatorial Profile

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As South Carolina’s 2026 governor’s race takes shape, FITSNews continues to host conversations with individuals and elected officials who have expressed an interest in campaigning for the Palmetto State’s top executive office.

This week, I sat down with second-term state senator Josh Kimbrell of Boiling Springs, S.C., who confirmed he has “thought about” running for governor and is “looking at that possibility.”

“One of the things I’ve always believed is that if you’re going to run for any office – whether it’s senate, congress, governor or any other position – there’s gotta be a ‘why,'” Kimbrell said. “It can’t just be, ‘I want to do it because I’d like to do it.’ It can’t be ‘I want to do it because I want to hold the position.'”

Kimbrell’s ‘why?’ Making South Carolina more competitive economically…

A former radio host, Kimbrell ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. congress in 2018 prior to knocking off a veteran Democratic lawmaker in 2020 to win his seat in the S.C. Senate. The 40-year-old businessman has emerged over the last four years as one of the more consistently conservative members of that chamber – which now has an overwhelming GOP supermajority.

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“Pre-2020 was a Republican majority but barely a functional Republican majority,” Kimbrell told me. “A lot of things got stifled over there because of the rules and the filibuster. Now you’re really starting to see a Senate that functions as a Republican Senate. So if you go pre-2020 to now, we have a Republican majority that can actually do things.”

Like S.C. senator Sean Bennett – whom I interviewed last week – Kimbrell has been on the leading edge of the push to cut the Palmetto State’s top marginal income tax rates. Years before most GOP leaders were even talking about the need to cut taxes, Kimbrell introduced legislation which would actually do it.

In addition to his latest tax-cutting plans, Kimbrell spoke out against the dangers of crony capitalism – specifically his concerns with how the Palmetto State’s corporate welfare deal with Scout Motors has shaken out. An initial supporter of that deal, Kimbrell now has grave concerns over how it is being implemented.

In our wide-ranging conversation, I asked Kimbrell some tough questions about his evolving views on the issue of immigration – and gave him an opportunity to discuss false allegations against him that nearly ended his political career before it began.

We also talked about Donald Trump‘s 2024 pivot on the issue of abortion – and where he thinks that debate is headed at the state level this year.

To view the whole conversation, click here…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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