South Carolina governor calls for a special session on redistricting

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called a special session Thursday for state lawmakers to tackle redistricting ahead of the midterm elections.

A new map is expected to eliminate the state’s only majority-minority district, which is held by Rep. James Clyburn, a key Democratic power broker.

“I have issued an Executive Order calling the General Assembly back for an extra legislative session to address the state budget and congressional districts,” McMaster said Thursday evening on X. He said the special session would begin Friday morning.

McMaster initially chose not to set a special session, but he changed course after the Republican-led state Senate rejected a measure this week to extend its current session to take up a redrawn map, despite pressure from President Donald Trump.

South Carolina is one of a spate of Southern states rushing to redraw their maps to create more Republican-leaning seats after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted Voting Rights Act protections against racial gerrymandering in a major ruling last month.

Since then, Tennessee has enacted a new map that carves up the state’s lone majority-Black district, represented by Rep. Steve Cohen. The Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to implement a map with one less majority-minority district than it has now. And Thursday, the Louisiana Senate passed a map that targets one of the state’s two Democratic-held seats.

Trump urged South Carolina Republicans on Truth Social on Monday to join the mid-decade redistricting fight.

“I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country,” Trump posted. “South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS, just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week! Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!”

But there has been some reluctance among South Carolina Republicans to rush to change their map. Five Republican senators denied their party the two-thirds support needed to pass the measure this week that would have allowed them to consider new district lines during their active session.

That group included Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey.

“I believe that our state is stronger with vibrant parties. I think we, as a whole, are stronger when we have a clash of ideas. I think that’s true at the national level. I think it’s true at the state level,” Massey said in a floor speech. “Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable.”

In the special session, simple majority support will be needed in both chambers to pass a new map.

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