South Carolina Senate Blocks Redistricting Push Before Primary

Early voting had already begun in South Carolina when the state Senate adjourned without advancing a new congressional map on Tuesday. The decision left the current lines in place for the June primary and preserved the 6th District, the state's only majority-Black seat, represented by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn for 34 years.

The proposed changes followed the Supreme Court's ruling that weakened a key Voting Rights Act provision used to protect majority-Black districts. Republican-led states including Georgia and Mississippi have moved to redraw lines in response. In South Carolina the House had approved a new map, but the Senate declined to end debate on it. A motion to invoke cloture failed, and with more than 32,000 early ballots already cast, enough Republican senators refused to proceed.

State Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican, said the start of voting settled the matter for him. "South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today," he said. "And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway." The Senate then adjourned, postponing further action until after the primary.

Clyburn, who has said he will run again regardless of the lines, attributed the outcome to Republican senators placing constitutional timing rules above external pressure. Several Republican lawmakers cited the same timing conflict. Political observers also noted Clyburn's long record of directing federal funds to the state and his cross-aisle relationships as factors that limited support for the map inside the GOP caucus.

South Carolina Republicans hold a supermajority and had discussed creating seven Republican-leaning districts. Some party activists argued that winning elections entitled them to draw favorable lines. Others warned that concentrating Democratic voters could produce unintended competitive seats elsewhere. The Senate's refusal leaves the state as an outlier among Southern Republican legislatures that have pursued rapid redistricting this cycle. Leaders in Georgia and Mississippi have indicated they intend to revisit their maps before 2028.