{"id":1238,"date":"2026-07-14T17:20:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:20:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:20:38","slug":"south-carolina-senate-advances-gop-redistricting-trump-wants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/?p=1238","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Senate Advances GOP Redistricting Trump Wants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The South Carolina Senate took a major step Saturday toward approving a White House-backed congressional map aimed at flipping the state\u2019s only Democratic-held U.S. House seat, though the final vote remains days away as legal concerns intensify from both Democrats and some Republicans.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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In a 27-17 vote, senators tentatively approved the proposed map, putting it on a possible path to becoming law sometime after early voting begins Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

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The legislation still requires another procedural vote Tuesday to limit debate again, which could allow the bill to reach the governor\u2019s desk by the middle of the week.<\/p>\n

That timing has fueled fierce criticism from Democrats, who argue lawmakers are effectively changing election rules while voters are already casting ballots.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto blasted the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cA yes vote will be to disenfranchise voters standing in line at the polls at the very time that vote will be taken,\u201d Hutto said.<\/p>\n

The fight is not breaking neatly along party lines.<\/p>\n

Several Republican senators have openly warned the aggressive push could backfire legally and politically.<\/p>\n

Sen. Chip Campsen, a Republican who helped draw South Carolina\u2019s current congressional map, urged colleagues not to abandon district lines that already survived review by both state and federal courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy am I convinced the state Supreme Court will strike this down? It will be the process,\u201d Campsen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have signed, sealed, delivered, unassailable congressional districts and we\u2019re about to pass something the most assailable, most egregious because there\u2019s nothing to it. I don\u2019t even know who drew these maps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to throw it away, and we\u2019re going to lose,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will blow up in our face.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effort comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana\u2019s congressional map, prompting Republican-led states to revisit district lines.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the South Carolina redraw argue the 6th Congressional District, held by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, should be reconfigured.<\/p>\n

They say the current setup unfairly preserves a Democratic stronghold.<\/p>\n

Opponents counter that South Carolina\u2019s circumstances are entirely different.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Carolina\u2019s existing map in 2024, ruling the disputed line drawing between the 1st and 6th districts was partisan rather than racial.<\/p>\n

That decision gave Republicans a legal victory by preserving their advantage in the coastal 1st District.<\/p>\n

Now critics argue lawmakers are risking that stability for a rushed political gamble.<\/p>\n

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Saturday\u2019s debate also triggered an unusual procedural controversy.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers initially voted to continue debate Sunday, sparking backlash over forcing the Senate into session on the Lord\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Democrat and pastor, delivered one of the chamber\u2019s most emotional speeches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need someone to help me understand why such a hyper-partisan situation\u201d is worthy of disrupting worship and family time, Jackson said.<\/p>\n

He noted he was scheduled to preach three services Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you guys can live with yourself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Richard Cash agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in a state of emergency,\u201d Cash said. \u201cI certainly agree with you, Sunday is a day set apart for the worship of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

After internal discussions, senators reversed course and avoided Sunday and Monday sessions.<\/p>\n

Still, the practical timeline remains largely unchanged, as early voting begins Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Thousands of absentee ballots have already been returned.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, congressional primaries would be delayed until August. Other statewide and legislative races would remain on the current schedule.<\/p>\n

Ballots for June 9 primaries will still list congressional candidates, but those portions would be voided if the new map becomes law.<\/p>\n

Democrats are now urging voters to cast ballots immediately in hopes that higher early participation makes implementation more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese votes on Tuesday matter more than they ever have before,\u201d Sen. Jeffrey Graham said, News From The States\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone needs to use their right to vote,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Even Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned that an all-out push to create a fully Republican congressional delegation could produce unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Carolina Senate took a major step Saturday toward approving a White House-backed congressional map aimed at flipping the state\u2019s only Democratic-held U.S. House seat, though the final vote … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1240,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions\/1240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchthenews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}