South Carolina off the redistricting bandwagon

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

Cross South Carolina off the redistricting list that has swept the nation since the storm blew out of Texas in July.

Usually done after apportionment following the decennial census, congressional maps across the country have been redrawn in the middle of the decade in multiple states. Second-term Republican President Donald Trump started the move in an effort to thwart the usual forecast of a new president’s party losing seats in the U.S. House of Representatives at the midterms, and states led by Democrats hopped into the game with them.

The prediction scoreboard, as midnight came Tuesday, was Republicans outgaining Democrats 14-6.

At risk in the potential redraw would have been the seat of 17th term Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn.

“We have someone in the White House that wants Republicans to ignore the constitutional principles for which this current map was drawn,” Clyburn wrote on social media. “A critical number of Republicans did not believe in putting a man over the law. Today, members of the South Carolina State Senate stood up for the constitutional principles that they say they believe in.”

The state has two Republicans in the Senate and six Republicans in the U.S. House, plus Clyburn in the 6th Congressional District that touches Columbia, Charleston and the state border near Savannah, Ga. Clyburn’s 86th birthday is July 21.

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster wanted a map that would yield seven Republicans in the House. He said he was disappointed.

Tuesday was the first day of early in-person voting for the June 9 statewide primaries.

“South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today,” said state Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson. “And neither my conscience nor common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway.”

Clyburn is uniquely tied to recent presidential history. His endorsement of Joe Biden in the 2020 primary season resurrected the campaign after floundering finishes of fourth in the Iowa caucuses, fifth in the New Hampshire primary, and a distant second in Nevada.

With South Carolina off the list, and Alabama in a litigation appeal, Louisiana is next up with state House members considering a new map this week. Missouri is also in litigation, with a hearing scheduled Wednesday, as is Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and New York.

California, Utah, North Carolina and Ohio join Texas with new maps in play. Efforts led by Democrats died in Maryland’s Legislature and Virginia’s courtrooms, the latter ultimately at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. House was divided 220 Republicans, 215 Democrats following the 2024 election cycle. Today, it’s 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats, one independent formerly Republican, and five vacancies (three Democrats, two Republicans).