In a blow to President Donald Trump, South Carolina Republicans have voted down a procedural measure that would unlock the ability to redraw their congressional maps to delete their sole Democratic-leaning, majority-Black congressional district — but it may not be the end of the issue.
According to Politico, “Lawmakers on Tuesday failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to approve a measure that would have allowed them to take up a vote on redistricting even after the legislative session ends later this week. Five Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the proposal.”
This comes after South Carolina’s state Senate Republican Leader, Shane Massey, argued passionately against the plan, warning that it could backfire.
“I think — at best — you’re gonna get 6-1 and you may even go 5-2,” Massey said, arguing in a strongly Democratic election year that two of the Republican-leaning districts on a gerrymandered map could elect Democrats anyway. “I don’t wanna go 5-2. I don’t want Hakeem Jeffries as the Speaker of the House.”
South Carolina is one of a number of Southern states considering moves to get rid of majority-minority districts protected under the Voting Rights Act, after the Supreme Court made it significantly harder to challenge maps that do this.
The Democratic district in question is currently represented by Rep. James Clyburn, one of the most powerful leaders in the House Democratic caucus and a figure widely considered to be a kingmaker in presidential primaries.
The failed vote doesn’t necessarily mean the issue is over; Gov. Henry McMaster could call a special session to redraw the map, which would require only a simple majority, but so far he has resisted calls to do so.
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