South Carolina Senate turns down Trump’s second push for redrawing map
South Carolina Republicans have once again struck down a measure to redraw the state’s congressional map, expressing concerns about the impact on its already underway primary election. The contested map, one legislator said, was also rushed through without discussion from the mapmaker.
The state Senators voted 20-24 on the bill, failing to reach the necessary majority to formally redraw the state’s congressional map, which would eliminate South Carolina’s lone Democratic U.S. House district. The measure passed in the state House with a 74-37 vote.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and President Donald Trump, both Republicans, have not commented on the vote as of Tuesday afternoon. McMaster previously called for a special legislative session requiring lawmakers to formally reconsider redistricting.
Senators cautioned against the bill, saying it would nullify congressional ballots getting sent back for early voting in the state’s primary. The primary is on June 9.
State Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, said in Senate chambers Tuesday that he’s voting against the bill that would allow the state to postpone its primary elections and adopt a new map, according to the state’s legislative feed. He noted that more than 26,000 early votes have been cast as of noon, more than double the number cast the first day of early voting in the 2024 presidential general election.
“I can no longer support passage of this bill for one simple reason: South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today,” Cash said. “Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway.”
He noted the earliest the bill could pass is May 27, while people are still voting, and Senate rules would further delay chamber votes.
The matter of redistricting isn’t over in South Carolina. Legislators voted 26-18 in favor of pushing the bill to the next legislative session, which begins on Jan. 12, 2027.
Legislators had zero input in proposed map
Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said that a Washington, D.C., consultant created the map and took zero input from legislators. Davis referenced a state House subcommittee hearing held on May 12.
“No questions. No demographic analysis. No idea of what went into the black box in which he generated this map,” Davis said.
He added that the map was “rife with errors” to the point that election officials said voting could not take place under the proposed map. One error included precincts that don’t exist.
“This is flawed from the start,” Davis said.
Redistricting in the nation
Several redistricting fights are still ongoing across the nation, namely in southern states, as the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case struck a provision in the Voting Rights Act that gave Black people equal representation in Congress.
Efforts are heavily focused in the South as it has higher concentrations of Black voters than other parts of the country. The debate has crept north, where a lawsuit against Illinois’ own Voting Rights Act suggests the law is unconstitutional in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision. It doesn’t directly affect Illinois’ current congressional map, but could change how future districts get drawn.
Earlier Tuesday, a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama temporarily prohibited lawmakers from switching to a map that eliminated a Black-majority district. The judges said the map is an “intentional effort to crack the Black population in Alabama.” The ruling retained a map the state has used since 2024 that drew out five Republican and two Democratic districts.
Cracking is a method of gerrymandering that splits groups into other districts, diluting their voting power as they’re too small to effectuate a swing, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
In Virginia, the Democratic Party lost a bid to reinstate the “10-1” map that would have eliminated four Republican districts as the U.S. Supreme Court declined on May 16 to hear Democrats’ challenge to a lower court ruling. A state Supreme Court nullified election results where Virginians narrowly approved a referendum to institute a map that created a Democratic stronghold in the southern state.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
