South Carolina Senate Advances GOP Redistricting Trump Wants

The South Carolina Senate took a major step Saturday toward approving a White House-backed congressional map aimed at flipping the state’s only Democratic-held U.S. House seat, though the final vote remains days away as legal concerns intensify from both Democrats and some Republicans.

In a 27-17 vote, senators tentatively approved the proposed map, putting it on a possible path to becoming law sometime after early voting begins Tuesday morning.

The legislation still requires another procedural vote Tuesday to limit debate again, which could allow the bill to reach the governor’s desk by the middle of the week.

That timing has fueled fierce criticism from Democrats, who argue lawmakers are effectively changing election rules while voters are already casting ballots.

Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto blasted the process.

“A yes vote will be to disenfranchise voters standing in line at the polls at the very time that vote will be taken,” Hutto said.

The fight is not breaking neatly along party lines.

Several Republican senators have openly warned the aggressive push could backfire legally and politically.

Sen. Chip Campsen, a Republican who helped draw South Carolina’s current congressional map, urged colleagues not to abandon district lines that already survived review by both state and federal courts.

“Why am I convinced the state Supreme Court will strike this down? It will be the process,” Campsen said.

“We have signed, sealed, delivered, unassailable congressional districts and we’re about to pass something the most assailable, most egregious because there’s nothing to it. I don’t even know who drew these maps,” he said.

“We’re going to throw it away, and we’re going to lose,” he said. “This will blow up in our face.”

The effort comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, prompting Republican-led states to revisit district lines.

Supporters of the South Carolina redraw argue the 6th Congressional District, held by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, should be reconfigured.

They say the current setup unfairly preserves a Democratic stronghold.

Opponents counter that South Carolina’s circumstances are entirely different.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s existing map in 2024, ruling the disputed line drawing between the 1st and 6th districts was partisan rather than racial.

That decision gave Republicans a legal victory by preserving their advantage in the coastal 1st District.

Now critics argue lawmakers are risking that stability for a rushed political gamble.

Saturday’s debate also triggered an unusual procedural controversy.

Lawmakers initially voted to continue debate Sunday, sparking backlash over forcing the Senate into session on the Lord’s Day.

Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Democrat and pastor, delivered one of the chamber’s most emotional speeches.

“I need someone to help me understand why such a hyper-partisan situation” is worthy of disrupting worship and family time, Jackson said.

He noted he was scheduled to preach three services Sunday.

“I hope you guys can live with yourself,” he added.

Republican Sen. Richard Cash agreed.

“We’re not in a state of emergency,” Cash said. “I certainly agree with you, Sunday is a day set apart for the worship of God.”