The South Carolina Senate rejected a new congressional map Tuesday that Republicans hoped would eliminate the state’s only Democratic seat, a Black-majority district represented for more than three decades by Rep. James Clyburn.
The vote against the new map — which would have helped Republicans in their quest for a clean sweep of the state’s seven congressional districts this fall — was an unexpected rebuff of President Donald Trump, who had pushed for the redistricting effort in hopes of retaining his party’s slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives past November.
The new map passed the state House last week. But a motion to end debate on the map failed in the state Senate on Tuesday after 12 Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting against it.
“Neither my conscience nor the common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” state Sen. Richard Cash said prior to the vote. Tens of thousands of votes had already been cast Tuesday, the first day of early voting.
The Senate adjourned Tuesday with a motion to reconvene June 10, one day after the state’s scheduled primaries, making it highly unlikely that any redistricting effort will move forward in time for the 2026 midterms.
South Carolina conservatives were at first hesitant to heed Trump’s demands for a new map. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster initially declined to call for a special session to consider redistricting. Shane Massey, the Republican leader of the state Senate, drew national attention for bucking the president in a 45-minute speech on the chamber’s floor about the perils of anti-democratic gerrymandering.
McMaster ultimately called for a special session after the Senate, led by Massey, rejected a measure that would have extended its current session to consider a redraw.
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In hours of floor debate ahead of the Senate vote, opponents of the map argued that it would further disenfranchise Black voters as minority districts across the country disappear amid the GOP-led redistricting push.
That concern intensified after the Supreme Court in April clawed back key Voting Rights Act provisions. The landmark decision effectively opened the door for racial gerrymandering across America and teed up the GOP to gain at least three to six seats through redistricting, most of which are held by Black Democrats in Southern states.
Black lawmakers on Capitol Hill have accused Republicans of stifling the voices of Black voters and undermining critical civil rights protections. Clyburn called the midcycle redistricting “a comprehensive approach to creating Jim Crow 2.0” during a news conference along with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in May.
“I don’t know how you decide that a state with 27% African Americans deserves zero African Americans in the representation,” Clyburn told MS NOW shortly before the state House sent the new map to the Senate for a vote.
Alexander Tabet contributed reporting.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.