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The South Carolina Senate voted on Monday (May 11) not to extend its legislative calendar, thereby denying the opportunity to consider a redistricting proposal favoring the GOP before the midterms.
In a 29-17 vote, the majority-Republican caucus voted against an extension of the state’s legislative calendar proposed in the House last week, according to The Hill.
If passed, the calendar would have moved the state’s primaries — scheduled for June 9 — all the way to August, and opened the door for the legislature to redraw congressional districts in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court ruling weakening provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
The ruling struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as unconstitutional. In response, several Republican-led state legislatures, such as Tennessee and Alabama, have proposed new congressional maps that effectively eliminate majority-Black districts in their states.
Last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill approving a new congressional map that splits Memphis and Shelby County into three separate districts and removes the seat of the state’s only House Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen.
President Donald Trump urged South Carolina Republicans to be “just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee,” and approve the extension in a Truth Social post on Monday, hours before the Senate vote.
With the vote, the South Carolina Senate has dealt a major blow to Trump’s efforts to urge Republican lawmakers nationwide to redraw district maps favoring the party before the midterms, which began last year with Texas.
Trump had reportedly called Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey in early May to encourage him to redraw the map, according to Politico. Massey claimed he would personally oppose the measure if it came to the floor, out of concern Republicans might lose seats.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) also told The Post and Courier on May 4 that he has no plans to call a special legislative session to redraw congressional districts.
“Today’s vote sends a clear message that South Carolina should not be dragged into another unnecessary and divisive redistricting battle driven by Washington insiders,” South Carolina Senate Democratic Leader Brad Hutto said in a statement shared to X on Tuesday (May 12). “Senate Democrats will continue fighting for fair representation, transparency, and a government focused on the needs of South Carolina families rather than national partisan gamesmanship.”
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