South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to call a special session to redraw the House map, a move that could end Rep. Jim Clyburn’s seat this year.
A South Carolina special session on redistricting could determine whether the state’s lone House Democrat, Rep. Jim Clyburn, remains in office this November, as Gov. Henry McMaster moves to restart the mapmaking process.
McMaster is expected to announce a special session on redistricting later Wednesday. setting up the state legislature to pass a Republican-drawn map.. The plan would almost certainly dismantle Clyburn’s district and. if enacted. leave South Carolina with seven House seats that lean Republican and none that tilt Democratic.
The development marks a sharp reversal of McMaster’s earlier stance earlier this month. It also comes after mounting pressure from President Donald Trump and allies who have urged state leaders to use redistricting to strengthen the GOP’s position going into the midterms.
The timeline for the special session is constrained by the mechanics of state government. McMaster cannot formally call the session until lawmakers adjourn their regular session, which is scheduled for Thursday. Until the decision is official, political watchers say he could still change course.
The looming maneuver follows a setback earlier this week in the state Senate.. Five Republican state senators voted with Democrats to block a proposal that would have allowed them to redraw South Carolina’s districts this cycle without requiring McMaster to call a special session.. That vote raised the threshold for action and underscored internal divisions within the GOP on how quickly to move.
While the special session would allow lawmakers to pass a new map using a simple majority. which would make passage far more likely given GOP margins. several Republicans who opposed the earlier effort said Tuesday’s outcome was not a foregone conclusion.. Still. the path to enactment appears substantially easier once lawmakers are able to operate under the rules set for a special session.
McMaster’s office has not responded to requests for comment. The plan was first reported earlier Wednesday, and the governor’s next steps are expected to be announced once the regular session ends.
The political pressure around the South Carolina map is unfolding against a broader regional redistricting scramble.. The U.S.. Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to narrow the Voting Rights Act has prompted states in the South to accelerate mapmaking. with Tennessee already passing a new map and Louisiana poised to do the same.
In South Carolina, the stakes are unusually high because Clyburn is the only Democrat in the state’s House delegation.. A redesign that removes his district would not just alter the congressional map; it would also change the partisan math in a delegation that. under current expectations. would become fully Republican.
Democrats, however, are not treating the matter as settled.. They argue that a redraw could create opportunities to contest a seat that is otherwise considered safe. and they are moving quickly on the ground.. The party’s top House campaign committee has begun recruiting in the state. signaling an effort to identify new targets for the fall.
At the political level, the push from Washington has also been visible.. James Blair. who is leaving the White House to run midterm operations for Trump. posted on X after lawmakers failed to meet the two-thirds threshold needed to consider redistricting without McMaster calling a special session.. His message added to the sense that national allies want South Carolina to act aggressively.
State Senate leadership will play a key role in determining whether the special session ultimately produces the map Republicans seek.. Senate leader Shane Massey. one of the five GOP senators who voted with Democrats to block the earlier measure. has begun communicating McMaster’s decision to lawmakers. according to someone familiar with those conversations.
It remains unclear whether Massey will attempt to persuade some Republicans who opposed the Tuesday vote to switch their positions once the special session framework is in place.. With the governor’s formal call expected only after Thursday’s adjournment. the window for further political maneuvering is still open. even as both parties prepare for the consequences of a redraw.
For now, South Carolina stands at a crossroads: a special session could quickly lock in a dramatically reshaped congressional delegation, while opponents and Democrats are betting that new seats and new coalition politics could still emerge from the fight.
McMaster redistricting South Carolina House map Jim Clyburn seat special session GOP gerrymander midterms 2026 Voting Rights Act
they been trying to get rid of clyburn for years this aint new
wait so they can just erase someones district like that?? i thought that was illegal after what happened last time. my cousin lives in columbia and she said nobody even voted on this or got a say which seems really wrong to me honestly
this is literally what happened in texas too and nobody stopped it then so i dont know why people act surprised. trump told them to do it and they did it thats literally all this is. mcmaster was against it like two weeks ago and now hes calling a whole special session which just tells you everything about how this works. i read somewhere that clyburn is like 80 years old anyway so maybe he was gonna retire but that doesnt make it right to just draw him out of existence on a map. redistricting is supposed to happen every ten years not whenever republicans feel like they need more seats before an election thats not how any of this is supposed to work
so the democrats in south carolina just wont have any representation at all going forward?? that cant be constitutional somebody needs to sue