In Surprise Rebuke of Trump, South Carolina Senators Reject Redistricting, Preserving State’s Lone Blue District

The Republican-led South Carolina state Senate has rejected a measure aimed at eliminating the state’s long Democratic congressional district, saving Congressman Jim Clyburn, known as a kingmaker for presidential candidates, from being drawn out of his seat ahead of the 2028 primary. After declining to extend the legislative session to consider redistricting earlier this month, Governor Henry McMaster called lawmakers back to the state House for a special session on redistricting. Mr. McMaster had previously signaled he would not do so, though pressure from national Republicans, including President Trump, led him to push for a new gerrymandered map. In the end, the state’s Senate declined by a margin of 24 to 20 to end debate that would force a final vote on the new maps, with 12 Republicans siding with Democrats. On a subsequent vote to punt redistricting to the next legislative session, the Senate passed the motion by a margin of 26 to 18. The sixth congressional district, which Mr. Clyburn has represented since 1993, has long been protected by the Voting Rights Act as an “opportunity district” for black voters. The Supreme Court’s Callais decision, however, opened the door for Republicans in the state legislature to redraw Mr. Clyburn’s district in order to gain one additional seat for the GOP. When the Senate considered extending its legislation session earlier this month, some lawmakers warned that mid-decade redistricting would not only be a violation of the spirit of comity in the legislature but could lead to Republicans losing a seat in the congressional delegation by diluting deep red districts with Democratic voters. “I think, at best, you’re gonna get 6–1 and you may even go 5–2,” the Senate’s majority leader, Shane Massey, said on the floor during debate. “I don’t wanna go 5–2. I don’t want Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker of the House.”“You’re gonna motivate black turnout … There will be down ballot repercussions,” he warned. “There will be Republican losses … because of this.”On Tuesday, a number of GOP state senators voiced concerns about passing new congressional maps on the same day that early voting began. Senator Richard Cash, who previously supported the redistricting effort, announced in a floor speech that he could no longer vote for the new maps. He said the “practical deadline” was Monday because early voting began on Tuesday. “The rule of law is the bedrock principle of our constitutional republic,” Mr. Cash said, arguing that it would be both morally wrong and historically unprecedented to throw out ballots after early voting had begun. Senator Tom Davis, who has long opposed the redistricting plan, also spoke out against changing the maps. He argued that the Callais decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is irrelevant since the court had previously declared South Carolina’s congressional map constitutional back before the 2024 election. Mr. Davis also made a point of complaining about the top-down process for trying to redraw the maps, including pressure from Mr. Trump. Mr. Davis lamented the fact that the maps were drawn by an unnamed “consultant” in Washington, D.C., who, he claimed, worked inside a “black box” to draw new maps and only spoke with state lawmakers for seven-and-a-half minutes on a Zoom call about the proposed district lines. “Our U.S. Constitution was drafted by a genius — primarily James Madison,” Mr. Davis said on the floor. “It not only checks the governed; it checks those who govern.”The decision to keep the deep-blue Sixth District cements Mr. Clyburn’s role as a power player in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. Several potential contenders have already traveled to the state to meet with Mr. Clyburn and attend events with him. On Monday night, Vice President Kamala Harris sent out a fundraising email on behalf of the congressman, with donations being split between Mr. Clyburn and Ms. Harris’s own outside spending group. Whether or not Democrats keep Mr. Clyburn’s home state first in the 2028 primary voting line is the bigger question. President Biden pushed the Democratic National Committee to put South Carolina to the front of the line ahead of the 2024 primaries, partially due to the debacle that were the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses and concerns that New Hampshire was not diverse enough to represent the Democratic Party’s base. Democrats have quietly complained that the real reason behind Mr. Biden’s decision was not about the party, but rather about rewarding Mr. Clyburn for reviving Mr. Biden’s fledgling 2020 campaign. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is currently considering applications by state parties to hold some of the first primaries and caucuses in the nation. Iowa and New Hampshire are jockeying to get their previous spots back ahead of South Carolina. Democrats in Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina are also applying for early spots in the nominating contest.

In Surprise Rebuke of Trump, South Carolina Senators Reject Redistricting, Preserving State’s Lone Blue District

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