Josh Kimbrell

Liliya Kimbrell

​

(m. 2017)​

Josh Kimbrell
Member of the South Carolina Senate from the 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 9, 2020
Children	2
Education	North Greenville University (BA) Gardner-Webb University

Joshua Brett Kimbrell (born December 18, 1984) is an American former aviation leasing operator and politician. He is also a former Christian talk radio host.

Kimbrell has served as a member of the South Carolina Senate from the 11th District (Spartanburg) since his 2020 election. ^[1] He is a member of the Republican Party. ^[2]

Political career

S.C. Senate

In 2020, Kimbrell defeated incumbent Democrat Glenn G. Reese, who had held the seat in the South Carolina Senate's 11th District since 1991.

In June 2021, Kimbrell sponsored a bill in the state senate that would "allow mental health professionals to refuse to provide care that violates their religious beliefs." ^[3] During the 2022 session, Kimbrell also introduced a budget proviso to ban "prurient" books in children's library sections at public libraries, though some librarians and other lawmakers said the language was too vague to enforce without banning a wide variety of books. ^{[4] [5]}

2026 gubernatorial campaign

Main article: 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial election

On March 24, 2025, Kimbrell formed an exploratory committee to explore running in the 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial election. ^[6] He announced his candidacy for governor on June 23, 2025. ^[7]

Endorsements

Kimbrell supported Florida Governor Ron Desantis in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, traveling with him to Iowa as a surrogate for the campaign. ^{[8] [9]} When Desantis withdrew from the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, Kimbrell switched his endorsement to Trump. ^[10]

Personal life

In October 2014, Kimbrell was arrested and charged with sex crimes against his 3-year-old son. ^[11] After being held in jail without bail, the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence in February 2015. ^[12]

In July 2025, Kimbrell’s business partner at Exodus Aircraft, Greenville SC businessman Frank Rogers, filed a civil lawsuit against Josh Kimbrell and his wife Liliya claiming that Kimbrell stole over 2 million dollars from him. The lawsuit claims that Kimbrell created a company named Exodus Airways and sent clients invoices for Exodus Aircraft, and provided bank routing and account information for his company, Exodus Airways so that he would be paid for those invoices under his new LLC that he co-owns with his wife Liliya. The suit also claims Liliya created various PayPal accounts and had payments made from Exodus Aircraft into her PayPal accounts, and the money was then redistributed elsewhere. Rogers claimed that Kimbrell stole this money from Exodus Aircraft and used it for personal expenses and used to it finance his state senate campaign runs. ^[13]

Electoral history

Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Votes for Kimbrell				Result	Swing		Ref.
								Total	%	P.	±%
2018	U.S. House of Representatives	Rep. primary		Republican	William Timmons		Republican	7,465	11.13%	4th	N/A	Lost	N/A		[14]
2020	S.C. Senate	General		Republican	Glenn G. Reese [a]		Democratic	26,117	55.34%	1st	N/A	Won		Gain	[15]

Notes

1. Incumbent seeking re-election.

References

1. "South Carolina Legislature Online - Member Biography". www.scstatehouse.gov. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
2. "South Carolina State Sen. Josh Kimbrell - Biography | LegiStorm". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
3. "SC considers extending religious objections to therapists". AP. 21 June 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
4. "Library leaders fight proposal on banned books". Post and Courier. 5 May 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
5. "SC Senate lawmakers consider cutting off aid to libraries that allow kids access to 'prurient material". News 19. 29 April 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
6. Staff, ABC Columbia (2025-03-25). "State senator launches exploratory committee for governor's race". ABC Columbia. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
7. Moore, Stephanie (June 23, 2025). "Sen. Josh Kimbrell announces run for SC governor". WYFF . Retrieved June 23, 2025.
8. Barton, Tom (December 28, 2023). "Ron DeSantis enlists South Carolina senator to undercut Nikki Haley in Iowa". The Gazette. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
9. Contorno, Steve (December 28, 2023). "DeSantis enlists help to make closing case to Iowans – and to undercut Haley in the Hawkeye State". CNN. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
10. Shutt, Jennifer (January 21, 2024). "Florida's DeSantis withdraws from Republican presidential race, endorses Trump". South Carolina Daily Gazette. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
11. "Christian Talk radio host accused of sex crime against 3-year-old". WYFF. 16 October 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
12. Dykes, David. "Solicitor dismisses criminal sexual conduct charge against Upstate radio host". The Greenville News. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
13. Robelot, Jane (2025-07-12). "SC Sen. Josh Kimbrell charges civil suit against him is "lawfare"". WYFF. Retrieved 2025-07-14.
14. "2018 Statewide Primaries: U.S. House of Representatives, District 4 - REP". South Carolina Election Commission. 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
15. "2020 Statewide General Election: State Senate, District 11". South Carolina Election Commission. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2024-07-07.