# Jay Kilmartin

Jay Kilmartin is a Republican member of the South Carolina House for district 85.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: South Carolina House, district 85
- Serving since: 2022-11-14
- Current term: SC 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/5a7a2735-d539-4aa0-b1a9-2f0e3828a02b

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/5a7a2735-d539-4aa0-b1a9-2f0e3828a02b (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Kilmartin sits at +0.84 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 97% of State House Republicans.

## What Kilmartin says (SC 2025–26 session)

1,719 classified statements: 1,719 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Kilmartin | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 10.9% | 2.9% | 47 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 9.7% | 9.3% | 281 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 23.0% | 31.9% | 512 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.3% | 1.8% | 527 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 1.6% | 12.7% | 690 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 5.5% | 1.4% | 46 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Government Operations and Politics 32% (State House Republicans 18%); Economics and Public Finance 21% (State House Republicans 12%); Health 16% (State House Republicans 10%); Education 8.8% (State House Republicans 15%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 8.1% (State House Republicans 6.2%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.84 (standard error 0.02), from 237 donors and 569 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 97% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (SC 2025–26 session)

1,346 roll calls. Attendance 94.6% (South Carolina House 88%). Party unity 83% (93.8%). 248 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-25 · voted nay · Concur in Senate Amendments · H 3305 Supplemental Appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3305/
- 2026-08-25 · voted yea · Table Motion to Waive Rule 4.8 · H 3305 Supplemental Appropriations · fail · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3305/
- 2026-08-25 · voted nay · Table Amendment 1A · H 3305 Supplemental Appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3305/
- 2026-08-25 · voted nay · Table Amendment 2A · H 3305 Supplemental Appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3305/
- 2026-08-25 · voted nay · Waive Rule 4.8 · H 3305 Supplemental Appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3305/
- 2026-08-11 · voted nay · Table Motion to Reconsider · H 4042 Ivermectin · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4042/
- 2026-08-11 · voted nay · Adopt Conference Report · H 5126 Budget · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5126/
- 2026-08-11 · voted not voting · Proviso to 117.220 · H 5126 Budget · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5126/
- 2026-08-11 · voted yea · Concur in Senate Amendments · H 4300 Retirement System for Judges and Solicitors · pass · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H4300/
- 2026-06-25 · voted nay · Adopt Conference Report · H 3924 Hemp-derived ingestible · fail · https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H3924/

## Legislation (SC 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 1,078 bills: 1,078 reached committee, 997 passed one chamber, 87 passed both, 5 became law. Cosponsored 0. 92.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (South Carolina House 96.3%; rank 119 of 124).

Recent sponsored bills:

- H 5810: UNESCO Middle Passage Marker (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5810/
- H 5806: Pastor Sammie D. Simmons Day in SC (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5806/
- H 5800: Friendship United Methodist Church 160th Anniversary (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5800/
- H 5807: Alica James obituary and memorial service (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5807/
- H 5795: Katherine Liles, sympathy (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5795/
- H 5799: Harold Waynick sympathy (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5799/
- H 5797: Jack J. Parrish Jr. (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5797/
- H 5808: Cpt. Reed Koepp retirement (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5808/
- H 5798: Mark Williams (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5798/
- H 5802: Irmo Insurance Agency, 50th anniversary (passed one chamber, 2026-08-25) https://openstates.org/sc/bills/2025-2026/H5802/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $23.1K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 99% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2114754614713110682
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2114805490538418589
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2114203749711565196
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2113768756736311781
- 2026-10-18 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2111805286742929831
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2111292655829496199
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2111293172416397733
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2111505960766439519
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2110921766818209976
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks, policy discussion · https://x.com/JayforHouse85 kilmarley2112/status/2110928638761746518

## Links

- Official site: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=0993323745
- Campaign site: https://www.jayforhouse85.com/
- X: https://x.com/JayforHouse85
- X: https://x.com/kilmarley2112
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayforHouse85/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jay.kilmartin
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayforhouse85/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaykilmartin/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jayforhouse85
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-kilmartin-9282b78/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/5a7a2735-d539-4aa0-b1a9-2f0e3828a02b