JUST IN: 5 Republicans Vote With Dems To Tank Purple State Redistricting Effort
A redistricting effort in South Carolina — which sought to draw out the state’s lone Democrat-controlled district and generate a pick-up opportunity for Republicans — has been defeated in the state’s Senate.
South Carolina Republicans in the House had moved quickly earlier this month to reopen the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. On May 6, the House voted 87-25, largely along party lines, to amend the sine die resolution that normally ends the legislative session.
The change would have allowed lawmakers to return after the scheduled May 14 adjournment specifically to redraw the seven U.S. House districts. The goal was to target the state’s lone Democrat stronghold held by longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn and potentially flip it Republican and on recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions pertaining to drawing congressional districts on the basis of race.
The measure advanced swiftly through House committees and the floor, setting the stage for a critical test in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority was required to extend the session and unlock redistricting.
After hours of debate on Tuesday, May 12, the Senate rejected the proposal in a 29-17 vote, falling short of the roughly 31 votes needed. Five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition. The dissenting Republicans were Senators: Sean Bennett, Chip Campsen, Tom Davis, Greg Hembree, and Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey.
Majority Leader Massey, one of the key dissenters, made his position plain on the Senate floor. “We are the most gerrymandered Republican state in the country already,” he said.
This decisive Senate defeat effectively ends any realistic path to congressional redistricting in South Carolina before the 2026 elections. Without approval to extend the session, and with Governor Henry McMaster showing little appetite for calling a special session on the issue, the existing maps — which were drawn after the 2020 census — will remain in place.
The vote will preserve Clyburn’s Lowcountry district and the state’s current partisan balance heading into what promises to be a competitive national midterm cycle.
Following the vote, the five GOP senators have faced immediate backlash from party hardliners who viewed the effort as a prime opportunity to maximize Republican seats. A number of Indiana state senators recently lost their respective primary elections after blocking a similar redistricting effort in their state, which could have generated two additional GOP pick-ups.
President Donald Trump endorsed challengers to the dissenting Indiana lawmakers and could very well do the same in South Carolina.