Krystle Matthews

Krystle N. Matthews (; born February 27, 1981) is an American former politician and engineering planner. She was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 117th district, serving from 2018 to 2022. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Political career

South Carolina House of Representatives 2018

Matthews was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Bill Crosby. This made her the first Black woman to represent this district.

June 2022 phone recording On June 26, 2022, audio of a prison phone call was released by the far-right activist group Project Veritas. On the recording, Matthews expresses a desire to accept money from drug dealers to fund her campaign and also calls for Democrats to run as "secret sleepers" in Republican primaries. Matthews won the primary runoff two days later. In reference to the recording, Matthews said, “Nothing I said was untrue. And everything I said are also things that I’ve already talked about throughout my campaign. I don't run from anything.” She apologized for her language in a private conversation. Matthews won the Democratic primary in a June 28 runoff.

September 2022 recording On September 8, 2022, Project Veritas again obtained a recording of Matthews making statements about White people, resulting in calls for her resignation by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, a Republican, and State House Representative Justin Bamberg, a fellow Democrat. In the recording, Representative Matthews states, "My district is slightly Republican, and it's heavily White. I'm no stranger to White people, I'm from a mostly White town. And let me tell you one thing. You oughta know who you're dealing with, like -- you gotta treat them like shit, like I mean that’s the only way they’ll respect you. I keep them right here, like under my thumbs. That's where I keep it. You have to, otherwise they get out of control, like kids." In a statement, Matthews confirmed that her voice is heard in the recording, but she characterized the audio as a misleading edit by a "satirical MAGA Powered news outlet" of a "tongue-in-cheek" exchange.

South Carolina House race 2022 See also: 2022 South Carolina House of Representatives election, 2022 United States state legislative elections

In the 2022 general election, Matthews ran in two races simultaneously: the US Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives races. She lost the Senate race to incumbent Tim Scott, and the South Carolina House of Representatives race to Republican challenger Jordan Pace. Matthews' 2022 simultaneous run in two races was mentioned in 2026 news coverage of the Special Republican Primary sparked by the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham during the 2026 United States Senate election in South Carolina.

Personal life Matthews was born in Sandusky, Ohio and graduated from Sandusky High School in 1999.

Electoral history South Carolina House of Representatives Matthews was the only Democrat in her district to run in 2018, so there was no Democratic primary.

Matthews was the only Democrat in her district to run in 2020, so there was no Democratic primary.

Matthews was the only Democrat in her district to run in 2022, so there was no Democratic primary.

United States Senate