South Carolina Republicans Endorse Redistricting Plan Targeting Rep. Jim Clyburn’s Seat

Republicans in the South Carolina House endorsed a congressional redistricting plan just after midnight Tuesday, casting aside Democratic objections as they moved to reshape the state’s only Democratic-held U.S. House district.

The plan, urged on by President Donald Trump, would target U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s seat, and Republican Rep. Luke Rankin said, "I have your back and South Carolina Republicans have your back."

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn said he will continue running for an 18th term even if his district gets changed, while Democratic state Rep. JA Moore said, "What you all are doing is wrong."

The bill now heads to the more skeptical state Senate, where some Republicans questioned whether redistricting could backfire by making districts competitive enough for Democrats to gain seats instead of securing all seven for the GOP.

To buy time for any new map to be implemented, the legislation would remove U.S. House races from the June primaries and instead set a special primary election in August to select candidates.

In South Carolina, the redistricting debate shifted into a potentially testy House discussion on whether to accede to President Donald Trump’s desires for a U.S. House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans.

State Rep. Nathan Ballentine said South Carolina has probably seen more projects and funding from the federal government thanks to Clyburn being in office, and he added that over half of reliable Republicans are against redistricting, saying, "My mama raised me just because you can doesn’t mean you should."

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The AP described how Monday’s session ended with Republicans voting nearly unanimously to limit debate, with each House member allowed one amendment and just three minutes to advocate for their change to the bill.

The same AP report said legislation pending in the state House would move the U.S. House primaries to August, and if it clears the House it must go to the Senate.

The New York Times tied the broader fight to court rulings and governors’ actions, noting that in early May Virginia’s top court struck down a measure that had allowed Democrats to redraw congressional districts in the state.

The redistricting push is framed as a race for control of the U.S. House, with Republicans seeking to retain their slim House majority as they try to redraw congressional district maps in multiple states.

The New York Times reported that Republicans think they could win as many as 15 additional seats from revised U.S. House districts in seven states so far, while Democrats think they could gain up to six seats from new House districts in two states.

The AP said the Supreme Court ruling that weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts has opened the way for Republicans to redraw districts with large Black populations that have elected Democrats, and it described the targeting of a seat long held by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

The Audacy report said the NAACP called on Black athletes and fans to boycott the athletic programs of public universities in states that “have moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation,” naming Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

Democratic state Rep. John King echoed the boycott call from the House floor, urging Black athletes to instead attend one of South Carolina’s historically Black colleges, saying, "You cannot gerrymander away Black political power on Monday, then expect Black athletes to sell out your stadiums on Saturday."