South Carolina Redistricting Effort Stalls In State Senate
The South Carolina House passed a new map eliminating the district held by Rep. James Clyburn, but the map failed twice in the state Senate.
Black News 
The ongoing redistricting roller coaster has taken another turn after a redistricting effort backed by President Donald Trump stalled in the South Carolina Senate.
The New York Times reports that the state Senate voted against ending the debate period on the new map, effectively preventing its implementation ahead of the midterms. Gov. Henry McMaster announced a special session focused on redistricting shortly after the Supreme Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial gerrymanders. The new map, which would’ve eliminated the district that’s been held by Rep. James Clyburn for 33 years.
The map stalled in the Senate twice this month. The reason for its failure the first time was less concerns about diluting Black voting power and more that the new map could unintentionally give Democrats more seats in the House. On Tuesday, several senators acknowledged that it would be inappropriate to change the state’s congressional maps while early voting was already underway.
“Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” State Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican from northwestern South Carolina, said on Tuesday. “Many of us are also frustrated and disappointed in what is a very unsatisfying outcome, but we need to face it.”
I love that we live in a nation where failing to disenfranchise Black voters is seen as “a very unsatisfying outcome.” I guess I’ll give South Carolina Republicans the smallest amount of credit allowed by law for clearing the tragically low bar of not disenfranchising voters while an election was already underway. It’s not like Louisiana or Alabama can say the same.
The Supreme Court’s decision to gut the Voting Rights Act led to several state legislatures in the South triggering redistricting efforts with the expressed purpose of diluting Black voting power. Tennessee was the first to pass a congressional map that eliminated the state’s only majority Black district. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry canceled elections already underway to implement a new map, tossing out 40,000 early votes in the process.
Alabama tried to stall its primary elections to use a map that the Supreme Court previously ruled was racially gerrymandered, but a federal court shut down that plan after finding that, surprise, surprise, the map was still racially gerrymandered.
According to the Charlotte Observer, Clyburn addressed the vote during an event in Charlotte on Tuesday. “The vote today reflected what South Carolinians would like to see, and that is a constitutional process,” Clyburn told reporters. He added that he believes frustration with the redistricting effort contributed to voters breaking the record for single-day early voter turnout on Tuesday. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen voters as animated as I saw them today,” he said. While Clyburn has worked with McMaster in the past, he said the governor’s attempt to eliminate his district will have a “tremendous impact” on their relationship going forward.
“I’m a human being,” Clyburn told reporters.
Listen, I’d feel some kind of way too if someone tried to draw me out of a job at Trump’s behest, of all people. Especially since it’s likely that McMaster and South Carolina Republicans will still work to implement the new map ahead of the 2028 election.
SEE ALSO:
Latest South Carolina Redistricting Effort Targets Rep. James Clyburn
These Southern States Are Redistricting After Supreme Court Ruling
