James Howle "Jay" Lucas (born August 11, 1957) is an American politician and attorney.

[2] Lucas was elected Speaker of the House in December 2014 after the resignation of Bobby Harrell.

[3] On March 15, 2022, he announced his decision to not run for reelection to the South Carolina House.

[1] Lucas entered state level politics in 1998 when he became the Republican nominee for South Carolina House of Representatives District 65, which was being vacated by incumbent Democrat Michael Baxley.

On November 3, 1998, Lucas defeated Democratic nominee Tony Floyd by less than forty votes.