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In Columbia, South Carolina, Republican lawmakers in the state House dismissed Democratic concerns on Tuesday as they pushed forward with a crucial vote on a redistricting plan that could potentially secure them an additional congressional seat in the upcoming November midterm elections.
This redistricting effort, encouraged by former President Donald Trump, aims to alter South Carolina’s sole Democratic-held U.S. House district to favor Republicans. This move is part of a larger national strategy to help the GOP maintain its narrow majority in the House come fall.
If the plan receives approval on Tuesday, it would require one more standard vote in the House before advancing to the Senate, which has shown more skepticism. Some Republican senators have expressed concerns that the redistricting could inadvertently make districts more competitive, potentially allowing Democrats to gain seats rather than securing all seven for the Republicans.
Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, whose seat is under threat, has vowed to seek an 18th term regardless of any changes to his district’s boundaries.
Throughout Tuesday’s discussions, Democrats lauded Clyburn’s contributions to the state and consistently objected to the proposed reconfiguration of his district. However, Republicans consistently dismissed their proposed amendments.
“What you all are doing is wrong,” said Democratic state Rep. JA Moore, adding: “You can justify it, rationalize it, but it’s wrong.”
Republican state Rep. Melissa Oremus later accused Democrats of “fear-mongering” for raising concerns about the potential impact on Black voters, asserting: “People are not being blocked from voting because of the color of their skin.”
Early voting is to start May 26 for the June 9 primaries. To buy time for the newly proposed map to be implemented, the South Carolina legislation would remove U.S. House races from the June primaries and instead set a special primary election in August to select candidates. Some absentee and overseas military votes that already have been cast for Congress would be tossed out.
Other Southern states have pursued a similar approach as they rush to redraw U.S. House districts following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an illegal racial gerrymander and significantly weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts.
Louisiana’s congressional primaries, scheduled for last Saturday, were postponed until later this summer by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to allow time for new districts to be drawn.
Primary election ballots were being cast Tuesday in Alabama. But the state plans to void the results in four of the seven U.S. House districts and instead hold special primaries Aug. 11 for those districts under different boundaries. The revised districts could help Republicans win an additional seat in November.
Redistricting ramifications are widening
All told, Republicans think they could win as many as 15 additional seats from revised US. House districts in seven states so far, while Democrats think they could gain up to six seats from new House districts in two states. That tally could change, though, as litigation continues in several states. Voters ultimately will decide whether those projections hold up.
The ramifications could extend beyond government and politics.
The NAACP on Tuesday 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.” The campaign specifically calls out Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas — though new voting districts have not yet been enacted in all of those places.
Democratic state Rep. John King echoed the boycott call from the House floor, urging Black athletes to instead attend one of the South Carolina’s historically Black colleges.
“You cannot gerrymander away Black political power on Monday, then expect Black athletes to sell out your stadiums on Saturday,” King said.
After Democrats had debated the proposed changes for hours on Monday, the Republican-controlled chamber changed the rules for Tuesday by limiting members to only one amendment and setting time limits for speeches.
Republicans swiftly dismissing Democratic amendments. They asked almost no questions before voting down proposals for voter education about moving primaries, to have the state pay all local costs for a rescheduled congressional primary, to move the general election back two weeks, and nearly three dozen other proposals.
During his 10 minutes of allotted speech time, Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson talked about his grandfather, a Black soldier in the Army who was willing to die for his country but came home to a society where he was shamed and mistreated because of his skin color.
“We are far beyond a lot of atrocities that my grandfather faced. But I believe in 2026 we have manifested new ways of keeping people down,” said Johnson, who is running for the open governor’s seat.
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.