South Carolina Trump-Backed Redistricting Push Fails in State Senate Amid GOP Opposition

The Republican-led South Carolina Senate rejected a last-minute push to redraw the state’s congressional map, halting for now an effort backed by President Donald Trump to eliminate the state’s only majority-Black district, held by Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. The vote came after the South Carolina House had already approved the map and lawmakers had also considered moving the affected districts to an August primary. But with early voting already underway on Tuesday for the state’s scheduled June primary, several Republican senators argued it was too late to change the lines. Sen. Richard Cash said he could not “stop an election that is already underway,” reflecting a shift among some GOP lawmakers who said the timing made the plan unworkable.

The defeat marked an unexpected setback for Trump and White House allies, who had pressed South Carolina Republicans to act during a special session called by Gov. Henry McMaster. Advisers close to the White House said they were caught off guard by the outcome and viewed it as a betrayal, noting that they believed the votes were there before the final Senate action. One adviser said the White House had not received advance warning from McMaster’s office that support was collapsing, and that they only learned of the problem through Attorney General Alan Wilson and a few state senators.

The effort also drew criticism from within the Republican Party. Sen. Tom Davis condemned the process, saying the state had spent months on earlier redistricting but rushed this map through in just a few weeks. He argued that lawmakers had effectively handed off their constitutional responsibility to a consultant in Washington, D.C., without knowing how the map was drawn. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey had previously questioned the broader strategy, saying Republican strength was tied to having a viable Democratic Party and a healthy clash of ideas.

Election officials raised practical concerns as well. Conway Belangia, the executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission, told lawmakers that implementing the new districts this year would cost an additional $6 million. The concern was not only financial but also logistical, given that the state had already begun voting for the June primary.

South Carolina’s fight is part of a larger national redistricting battle that has intensified after a major Supreme Court ruling on racial gerrymandering. In recent weeks, Florida and Tennessee have enacted new maps, while Louisiana Republicans are advancing their own proposal. Trump encouraged Republican-led states last summer to redraw their maps to protect the party’s narrow House majority, setting off a year-long struggle over congressional boundaries. Some of those disputes are still being decided in court.

On Tuesday, a federal judicial panel also blocked Alabama from using a Republican-drawn map that could have given the GOP another House seat. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.