Blow to Trump in South Carolina: State lawmakers reject changing electoral map before midterms
The initiative needed two-thirds of the votes to pass, but it failed with 29 votes in favor and 17 against. Five Republicans voted alongside the Democrats.
Donald Trump at the White House/ Kent Nishimura
The South Carolina General Assembly refused to change the electoral map ahead of the midterm elections. Despite pressure from Donald Trump on social media, the state Senate voted against extending the legislative session to work on a new map for the House of Representatives.
In early May, the Supreme Court published the Louisiana v. Callais ruling. By a 6-3 majority, the justices ruled that Louisiana's second congressional district in the House of Representatives violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, finding that it had been drawn using racial criteria.
The ruling opened the door for other southern states to challenge racially designed election maps, especially those drawn under pressure from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One of them was Tennessee, which already approved a new electoral map. In addition, Alabama made progress toward redrawing its map.
South Carolina Senate votes against Trump
In this context, the South Carolina Senate, with a Republican majority of 34 Republicans and 12 Democrats, scheduled a vote on whether to extend the state's legislative session and primary to redraw the electoral map. Currently, the state's House delegation consists of six Republican-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning district. That lone Democratic seat is held by Jim Clyburn, one of the most powerful Democratic legislators in Washington, D.C.
"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!" Trump wrote on Truth Social ahead of the vote.
However, the state Senate declined to extend the legislative session and modify the primary schedule. Therefore, the November map will be the same as the one used in the last election. The initiative needed a two-thirds vote to pass, but it failed with 29 votes in favor and 17 against. Five Republicans voted with the Democrats.
LATEST
