The Republican-led South Carolina state Senate on Tuesday rejected a measure to take up a redraw of the state’s congressional map despite pressure from President Donald Trump.
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A resolution that would have extended the state’s current legislative session, set to end this week, to tackle redistricting fell short of the two-thirds support needed, with five Republicans voting against it.
The vote shuts the door, at least for now, on Republican plans to carve up the state’s lone majority-Black district, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, ahead of the midterm elections. South Carolina’s primaries are set to take place June 9.
Trump had urged the South Carolina state Senate to pass the resolution, which the state House had previously approved, in a Truth Social post Monday night.
“The South Carolina State Senate has a big vote tomorrow on Redistricting. I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country,” Trump posted. “South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS, just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week! Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!”
A major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that limited the use of race in redistricting has paved the way for GOP-controlled states with majority-minority districts represented by Democrats to consider redrawing their maps.
Tennessee passed a new map last week that splits up the state’s only majority Black district. And Alabama and Louisiana Republicans are taking steps toward new district lines that would result in additional seats for their party.
The court’s ruling turbocharged an already aggressive mid-decade redistricting battle as both parties vie for control of the narrowly divided House this fall. Based on the eight new maps that have been enacted over the past year, Republicans could gain as many as 14 new seats, compared to six for Democrats.
But the South Carolina state Senate’s Tuesday vote marks a setback for Republicans seeking to further expand that advantage.
With South Carolina’s current legislative session due to end Thursday afternoon, lawmakers needed more time to complete the multi-step process of passing a new map. On Monday, Republicans in the state House voted to extend the end of their legislative session, and the state Senate spent all of their session on Tuesday debating the same measure.
In an extensive floor speech, Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said that attempting to draw a new map would be short-sighted.
“I believe that our state is stronger with vibrant parties. I think we, as a whole, are stronger when we have a clash of ideas. I think that’s true at the national level. I think it’s true at the state level. We are stronger when we have a clash of ideas, and we can discuss those policy goals,” Massey said. “Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable.”
He also took on Trump indirectly, comparing his own defiance of the president to South Carolina’s role in the U.S. Civil War.
“I have too much southern blood in me to surrender. Indeed, as some of you will recognize, it is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, to think and act for myself,” Massey said. “I’ve got too much southern in my blood. I’ve got too much resistance in my heritage.”
The next steps for Republicans pushing for redistricting in South Carolina are unclear, but they have options. One is the possibility of Republican Gov. Henry McMaster calling a special session for lawmakers to tackle redistricting.
Tuesday’s vote also came one week after five Indiana state senators who voted against a Trump-backed redistricting plan last year lost their Republican primaries to challenges endorsed by the president. In South Carolina, state senators aren’t up for re-election until 2028.
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