Josh Kimbrell

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. He is a member of the Republican Party.

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." 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.

2026 gubernatorial campaign

On March 24, 2025, Kimbrell formed an exploratory committee to explore running in the 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial election. He announced his candidacy for governor on June 23, 2025. On June 3, 2026, according to WIS-TV news reports, Kimbrell suspended his campaign.

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. When Desantis withdrew from the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, Kimbrell switched his endorsement to Trump.

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

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.

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