South Carolina House backs congressional map favoring GOP but bill faces
a more skeptical Senate
[May 20, 2026]
By JEFFREY COLLINS and DAVID A. LIEB
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republicans in the South Carolina House cast aside
Democratic objections and endorsed a congressional redistricting plan
just after midnight Tuesday, moving to give the GOP a shot at winning an
additional seat in the November midterm elections.
The redistricting plan, urged on by President Donald Trump, would
reshape the state's only Democratic-held U.S. House district to the
Republicans' advantage as part of a broader national effort to retain
the party's slim House majority in the fall.
Four Republicans voted against the bill after a 14-hour session that
included reading the bill and all the Census data creating the maps for
over three hours.
The bill now heads to the more skeptical state Senate, where some
Republicans have questioned whether redistricting could backfire —
making districts competitive enough for Democrats to gain seats instead
of securing all seven for the GOP.
Trump had urged South Carolina to redraw its congressional districts
ahead of November amid a fast-closing window to complete the work. Early
primary voting starts May 26. If the proposal ultimately becomes law,
South Carolina would delay its U.S. House primaries until later in the
summer and spend at least $3 million on another statewide election — and
likely face lawsuits against a new map.
“To President Trump," said Republican Rep. Luke Rankin who sponsored the
bill. "I have your back and South Carolina Republicans have your back.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose seat is targeted, has said he
will continue running for an 18th term even if his district gets
changed.
During Tuesday's debate, Democrats praised Clyburn's work on behalf of
the state and repeatedly objected to plans to reshape his district.
Republicans repeatedly rejected their amendments.
“What you all are doing is wrong,” said Democratic state Rep. JA Moore,
adding: “You can justify it, rationalize it, but it’s wrong.”
Republican state Rep. Melissa Oremus accused Democrats of
“fear-mongering” for raising concerns about the potential impact on
Black voters, asserting: “People are not being blocked from voting
because of the color of their skin.”
To buy time for any new map to be implemented, the South Carolina
legislation would remove U.S. House races from the June primaries and
instead set a special primary election in August to select candidates.
Some absentee and overseas military votes that already have been cast
for Congress would be tossed out.
Other Southern states have pursued a similar approach as they rush to
redraw U.S. House districts following a recent U.S. Supreme Court
decision that struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an
illegal racial gerrymander and significantly weakened Voting Rights Act
protections for minority districts.
Louisiana’s congressional primaries, scheduled for last Saturday, were
postponed until later this summer by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to
allow time for new districts to be drawn.
[to top of second column]
|
Democratic South Carolina Rep. Wendell Gillard walks back to his
desk with a sign after giving a speech during the redistricting
debate on Tuesday. May 19, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey
Collins)
Primary election ballots were being cast Tuesday in Alabama. But the
state plans to void the results in four of the seven U.S. House
districts and instead hold special primaries Aug. 11 for those
districts under different boundaries. The revised districts could
help Republicans win an additional seat in November.
Redistricting ramifications are widening
All told, Republicans think they could win as many as 15 additional
seats from revised US. House districts in seven states so far, while
Democrats think they could gain up to six seats from new House
districts in two states. That tally could change, though, as
litigation continues in several states. Voters ultimately will
decide whether those projections hold up.
The ramifications could extend beyond government and politics.
The NAACP on Tuesday called on Black athletes and fans to boycott
the athletic programs of public universities in states that “have
moved to limit, weaken or erase Black voting representation.” The
campaign specifically calls out Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas — though new voting
districts have not yet been enacted in all of those places.
Democratic state Rep. John King echoed the boycott call from the
House floor, urging Black athletes to instead attend one of the
South Carolina's historically Black colleges.
“You cannot gerrymander away Black political power on Monday, then
expect Black athletes to sell out your stadiums on Saturday,” King
said.
After Democrats had debated the proposed changes for hours on
Monday, the Republican-controlled chamber changed the rules for
Tuesday by limiting members to only one amendment and setting time
limits for speeches.
Republicans swiftly dismissed Democratic amendments. They asked
almost no questions before voting down proposals for voter education
about moving primaries, to have the state pay all local costs for a
rescheduled congressional primary, to move the general election back
two weeks, and nearly three dozen other proposals.
During his 10 minutes of allotted speech time, Democratic state Rep.
Jermaine Johnson talked about his grandfather, a Black soldier in
the Army who was willing to die for his country but came home to a
society where he was shamed and mistreated because of the color of
his skin.
“We are far beyond a lot of atrocities that my grandfather faced.
But I believe in 2026 we have manifested new ways of keeping people
down,” said Johnson, who is running for the open governor’s seat.
___
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
