South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) is expected to call lawmakers back for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map and eliminate its lone majority-Black district — after the state Senate appeared to derail the effort earlier this week.
Local reports suggest McMaster “will be calling lawmakers back to the State House Friday morning,” though an official announcement from the governor’s office was still pending as of Wednesday afternoon.
The move would reopen a path for South Carolina Republicans to target the state’s only Democratic congressional seat, a majority-Black district held by Rep. Jim Clyburn.
The development comes after the Senate rejected a redistricting measure pushed by President Donald Trump and national Republicans. The proposal needed a two-thirds vote to remain alive after the legislature adjourns Thursday, but it fell short after five Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.
The failed Senate vote was widely seen as a sharp rebuke to Trump’s pressure campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R), one of the Republicans who opposed the measure, warned the effort was moving too fast and could backfire electorally. Other Republicans raised concerns about timing, election administration and the risk of creating a map that makes more districts competitive for Democrats.
Still, pressure has continued to mount from Trump-aligned Republicans and McMaster stepping in would give them another chance to gerrymander.
The escalating fight in South Carolina is part of a broader wave of Republican redistricting efforts across the South following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Callais decision, which gutted key Voting Rights Act protections and opened the door for GOP-led states to redraw maps that will dilute Black voting power.
Tennessee has already enacted a new map dismantling their lone majority-Black district, while Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are also moving forward with or openly discussing redistricting efforts after Callais.
If McMaster formally calls lawmakers back, South Carolina’s redistricting battle will enter a new phase where each chamber of the legislature just needs a simple majority to pass a new map targeting the state’s only majority-Black district.
This story has been updated to clarify the votes needed for the South Carolina legislature to pass a new congressional map in a special session.
