The South Carolina state Senate voted 24-22 on Tuesday to reject a proposed congressional redistricting map, with five Republican senators joining all Democrats to block the measure. The vote does not definitively end efforts to redraw the state’s congressional districts, but it makes it significantly harder to accomplish this year.
The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass as an emergency measure, and the 24 votes in favor fell short. The map, which had been approved by the state House, would have shifted Democratic-leaning areas out of the 1st Congressional District, represented by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. Mace is facing a primary challenge from Catherine Templeton, who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Trump had publicly pressured South Carolina Republicans to pass the map. Before the vote, he posted on Truth Social: “I am watching South Carolina very closely. ... Don’t let the Democrats win.” After the vote, he wrote: “Five RINOs in the South Carolina Senate just killed a great Republican Congressional Map. ... They are a disgrace.” Politico noted that “RINO” stands for “Republican In Name Only.”
The five Republicans who voted against the map were Sens. Tom Davis, Chip Campsen, Sandy Senn, Penry Gustafson, and Katrina Shealy. Several of them explained their opposition. Davis said, “I just think it’s bad policy to be drawing congressional districts in the middle of a decade.” Senn stated, “I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for a map that I think is gerrymandered.”
The current congressional map, drawn after the 2020 census, gives Republicans a 6-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation. The proposed map would have made Mace’s district safer for the GOP. Supporters of the map included Gov. Henry McMaster and House Speaker Murrell Smith. The state Senate had previously passed a different version of the map, but the House amended it, leading to the impasse.
The Daily Caller described the redistricting effort as a chance to “end racist redistricting for good,” urging Republicans to “answer the call.”
The vote is a setback for Trump and state Republican leaders who pushed for the changes. Fox News reported that the outcome was a blow to Trump’s influence in the state. While the legislature could attempt to revive the bill, time is running out in the current session. The rejection leaves the existing district lines in place for now.
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