Earlier this week, one of my favorite red states was causing me some heartburn. South Carolina Republicans were in the midst of redistricting out one of its unconstitutional racially gerrymandered congressional districts when, all of a sudden, they hit a snag.
The state Senate refused to pass a new map after the state House did its job and passed one. Five holdouts said ‘no,’ and that was that. Or so I thought.
Twenty-nine senators voted for the new map versus 17 who voted no, so how did it fail? Because Gov. Henry McMaster (R) was not willing to call a special session of the legislature, where a simple majority would have sufficed.
But it seems he has had a change of heart. The date is still to be determined, but former SC State Rep. Adam Morgan, who has been tracking this situation, stated that State House and Senate leadership met with the governor to discuss the details.
It comes in mens and womens and lets your friends know you're happy to express your views and don't care what anyone thinks! Cheers!
Previously, President Trump said he was monitoring the situation in the Palmetto State “carefully”:
The South Carolina State Senate has a big vote tomorrow on Redistricting. I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country who are counting on their Elected Leaders to use every Legal and Constitutional authority they have to stop the Radical Left Democrats from destroying our Country, including leveling the playing field against their decades of egregious Gerrymandering and Census Rigging.
South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS, just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week! Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!
Meanwhile, Politico dropped an update:
South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to announce a special session on redistricting, teeing up the state legislature to pass a Republican gerrymander that would almost certainly cost Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn his seat in this year’s midterms.
Clyburn is the sole Democrat in South Carolina’s House delegation; the new map would dismantle his district, leaving the state with 7 likely red seats and no Democratic-leaning ones.
McMaster’s plan — confirmed by four people familiar with the decision, who were granted anonymity to share private details — is a reversal of his position earlier this month and follows pressure from President Donald Trump and his allies to gerrymander the state.
The looming special session comes after five Republican state senators voted with Democrats to block a measure that would have allowed them to redraw South Carolina’s districts this cycle without a call from McMaster.
Like Trump implores, South Carolina Republicans, be bold and get this done. The Democrats wouldn’t hesitate.
