“I have too much Southern blood in me to surrender,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told his colleagues on Tuesday, in the middle of a floor speech that helped sink President Trump’s push to redraw South Carolina’s congressional map.
The state Senate, which Republicans control, spent its whole session debating a resolution to extend the legislative session so lawmakers could take up redistricting. The measure needed two-thirds support and fell short, with five Republicans voting against it. The state House had already approved it.
The result closes the door, at least for now, on Republican plans to carve up the state’s only majority-Black district, which Democratic Rep. James Clyburn has represented for years. Primaries are set for June 9, and the session was due to end Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers said they needed more time for the multistep process of passing a new map.
Trump’s push
Trump pressed the Senate on Truth Social Monday night. “The South Carolina State Senate has a big vote tomorrow on Redistricting. I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country,” he wrote. “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!”
Massey said drawing a new map would be short-sighted. “Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable,” he said, adding that the state is stronger “when we have a clash of ideas.” He also pushed back at Trump indirectly, likening his own refusal to the state’s role in the Civil War. “I’ve got too much Southern in my blood. I’ve got too much resistance in my heritage.”
The national picture
A major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that limited the use of race in redistricting opened the way for Republican-run states with majority-minority districts held by Democrats to consider new maps. Tennessee passed a map last week that divides its only majority-Black district. Alabama and Louisiana Republicans are moving toward new lines that would add seats for their party.
Based on the eight new maps enacted over the past year, Republicans could gain as many as 14 seats, against six for Democrats. Also on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a map Republicans drew last year to split the state’s lone Democratic district can take effect for this year’s midterms, even as opponents advance a referendum to repeal it.
What comes next
Republicans pushing for a new map in South Carolina have options, and one is a special session. Gov. Henry McMaster posted on X Tuesday evening that the Legislature “still has two full days in which to finish its important work,” including giving “full consideration” to redistricting, though he did not mention a special session.
Several Republican candidates for governor attacked the senators who sank the resolution. Attorney General Alan Wilson called it a “missed opportunity” and said McMaster should convene a special session. Rep. Ralph Norman wrote that “NONE of them should be in public office after the next election.” Rep. Nancy Mace posted that she would “whip every single ‘NO’ vote into shape” if she were governor.
A week earlier, five Indiana state senators who voted against a Trump-backed redistricting plan last year lost their Republican primaries to challengers he endorsed. South Carolina’s state senators are not up for re-election until 2028.
