Many, but not all, Republicans in the South Carolina General Assembly are heeding President Trump’s call to redraw Congressional Districts in red states to favor Republicans. Many red states, including South Carolina, already do — we have six Republican Representatives and one Democrat, although voting trends show more of a 60/40 ratio favoring Republicans statewide. Gerrymandering has concentrated Democratic voting into one District, the 6th, currently represented by Jim Clyburn.

What’s changed? For decades, the Voting Rights Act prevented some states with a history of discriminatory voting laws from using race to divide voters. The Supreme Court has been systematically dismantling the VRA, first allowing states to create maps with a partisan advantage, and this year removing the racial consideration. That has essentially given states a free hand to create districts any way they want. It works for red states and blue states, and is leading to a ‘race to the bottom’ of redistricting in an election year otherwise expected to see Democrats regain control of the House.

In South Carolina, a House subcommittee proposed a map that would eliminate the one Democratic district, giving Republicans a 7-0 delegation. And because this comes just as voting begins in the SC Primary (June 9, but ballots are already printed, early voting starts on May 25, and mail-in voting is already underway), they also proposed pushing the Primary into August only for the Congressional election. So two primaries.

Time ran out in the regular session of the General Assembly, and a handful of state Senate Republicans voted with all Senate Democrats to block a special session. Governor Henry McMaster initially said he would not call a special session, but now reports are that he will, after the close of the regular session on Thursday, May 14.

If that happens, the General Assembly may approve the map that was proposed by the House subcommittee, or it may make changes. The goal remains the same, but some analysts (and some Republicans) have suggested that this is a dangerous game because splitting up the Democratic 6th District, and reconfiguring most of the other Districts in a game of Tetris, would create several somewhat more competitive districts overall, and an expected Blue Wave year like 2026 might flip a few districts Democratic.

The next step is to see if Governor McMaster follows through and calls the special session, and how quickly that can act. Stay tuned!