Donald Trump's efforts to redraw state voting lines have hit a roadblock in South Carolina. The South Carolina State Senate adjourned on Tuesday without taking up a measure that would redraw the state's congressional districts. A Republican-backed plan moving through the legislature aimed to tilt all seven districts to the right. Currently, only one of the state's seven congressional districts is held by a Democrat. The new maps would effectively ensure that all seven would be held by the GOP.
Republican Opposition Delays Vote
At least a dozen Republicans voted to adjourn through June 10, one day after the state's upcoming primary elections. They argued it was too late to change the districts given that voting is already underway. The White House has pushed aggressive redistricting policies in states nationwide to create maps friendlier to the GOP, in hopes of keeping control of Congress ahead of November's midterms. The state Senate's decision to punt the issue down the road comes as early voting has already begun in the state's primaries.
Targeting Clyburn's District
The one Democratic congressional district that Republicans are attempting to dismantle with their redistricting plans belongs to Congressman James Clyburn. 'Republicans are trying to break apart South Carolina’s 6th District. Not because voters demanded it, but because Donald Trump requested it,' his campaign posted on social media. Although Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate did not vote on redistricting this week, they could still pass it at a later date. Given that early voting is already underway, it is unlikely to go forward this year.
Trump pressured South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to call a special session to get the new voting maps through, though the gambit was ultimately unsuccessful. Some Republican state lawmakers have blamed the Governor for the failed vote, saying he did not call the special session fast enough. 'Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,' State Senator Richard Cash said, according to NBC News.
GOP Opposition and Setbacks in Other States
The redistricting effort had garnered GOP opposition as well. Shane Massey, the South Carolina State Senate's GOP leader, was opposed to the Trump-backed effort. When a similar Trump-backed redistricting plot failed in Indiana after local GOP leaders bucked the plan, Trump's political operation campaigned against them. Trump's efforts to toy with congressional maps were also dealt a blow in Alabama on Tuesday. A panel of three federal judges blocked new maps that would favor Republicans. The ruling said that the Republican-authored plan 'intentionally discriminated based on race.' If adopted, the new map would eliminate one of two Democratic-held congressional districts in Alabama. Several Republican states have rushed to implement new maps after a Supreme Court decision in April changed the way race factors into drawing districts.
