Under Pressure, More Southern States Are Expected To Join Redistricting War

Under pressure from conservatives and President Trump to join the redistricting war, a number of southern states are expected to take up gerrymandering efforts in the coming days and weeks to redraw state maps for advantage in either this year’s midterms or for the 2028 cycle. On Tuesday, the South Carolina state legislature unexpectedly declined to take up redistricting by extending its legislative session. An amendment to keep the legislature in town required two-thirds support. It fell two votes shy of that margin. In response, Governor Henry McMaster urged lawmakers to take up redistricting before the legislature recesses on Thursday. Despite previously pushing back on calls to call a special session, Mr. McMaster is now considering taking that step in order to eliminate his state’s lone Democratic seat. Congressman Ralph Norman, a Republican running to succeed the term-limited governor, told The New York Sun that he spoke to Mr. McMaster and the governor told him he would call a special session. Mr. Norman said Mr. McMaster was “under a lot of pressure” to bring lawmakers in for the redrawing effort. On Wednesday, FOX Carolina first reported that Mr. McMaster would call a special session to begin Friday. It would take only a simple majority of both the state house and senate to redraw congressional maps. The GOP currently holds a supermajority in both chambers. A former state representative, Adam Morgan, also claimed that he heard from sources in the legislature that Mr. McMaster planned to call a special session. Meanwhile, legislators in Georgia and Mississippi are also planning to redraw their states’ maps, though not in time for the midterms. On Wednesday, Governor Brian Kemp announced that he would call his legislature back to redistrict this summer. The maps that come as a result of that session will be used in the 2028 elections. Mr. Kemp’s proclamation states that the legislature will consider “enacting, revising, repealing, or amending general law for the division of the State into appropriate districts … in light of the United States Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais.”Currently, five of the state’s 13 congressional seats favor Democratic. Only one of those five voted for Vice President Kamala Harris by single digits, while the other four are considered to be deep-blue. If the legislature does pass a redistricting effort this summer for the 2028 elections, the GOP can likely pick up two seats. Mississippi, too, is planning to redraw maps before the next presidential election. Governor Tate Reeves said Wednesday that he was coordinating with the White House on his plan to eliminate the district currently represented by Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat. “The tenure of Congressman Bennie Thompson reigning terror on the Second Congressional District is over,” Mr. Reeves told a local radio program. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.” Mr. Reeves had originally planned to call a special legislative session later this month, though he was concerned that voiding the results of the primary elections could set a dangerous precedent that Democratic states would emulate. Following the Callais decision, Republicans in Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana began the process of eliminating Democratic seats. So far, the GOP is on track to pick up a combined three seats in those states.

Under Pressure, More Southern States Are Expected To Join Redistricting War

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