South Carolina GOP urges governor to call special session to eliminate only minority district

By Brentin Mock

State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, compares his proposed map of U.S. House districts drawn with 2020 U.S. Census data to a plan supported by Republicans on Jan. 20, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. Federal judges are deciding whether South Carolina's new congressional maps are legal in a lawsuit by the NAACP which says the districts dilute Black voting power. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, compares his proposed map of U.S. House districts drawn with 2020 U.S. Census data to a plan supported by Republicans on Jan. 20, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. Federal judges are deciding whether South Carolina's new congressional maps are legal in a lawsuit by the NAACP which says the districts dilute Black voting power. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Several of South Carolina’s GOP leaders and lawmakers are pushing Gov. Henry McMaster to call a special session to eliminate the state’s only minority congressional district.

The calls come after Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling gutted the Voting Rights Act and opened the door for southern states to scrap districts in which Black voters are a majority.

Gov. McMaster posted on X today that lawmakers should make sure the state’s current map is still constitutional.

“In light of the Court’s most recent decision on the Voting Rights Act, it would be appropriate for the General Assembly to ensure that South Carolina’s congressional map still complies with all requirements of federal law and the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote. 

Several of South Carolina’s GOP leaders, including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, took that as a call for state lawmakers to officially start the discussion. The minority district at issue – the 6th congressional district – is represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the longest serving Black members of Congress.

“We couldn’t agree more,” posted South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick. “We call on the South Carolina General Assembly to take action as soon as possible to fix the obvious imperfections in our own congressional map, specifically the 6th Congressional District.”

And some state Republicans expressed that the governor’s post didn’t go far enough. 

“Weak,” wrote state Rep. Adam Morgan (R) on X. “Call for them to immediately re-draw the race-based 6th District—NOW!”

“The SCOTUS ruling this week clearly calls into question the Constitutionality of the racially gerrymandered 6th Congressional District,” posted state Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R). “Thank you for your statement here [Gov. McMaster], but with limited time left in current session – we need you to call a special session.”

State legislative leaders said after the SCOTUS ruling that they were not going to redraw the state’s map. 

State Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said that splitting up South Carolina’s lone minority district could end up making safe Republican districts more competitive by adding Black and Democratic voters to them. 

“I think we need to be careful about this because in an effort to go to 7-0, we very well could go to 5-2,” Massey told South Carolina Public Radio, “because the population in South Carolina, the breakdowns are not what a lot of people would expect it to be about how easy it is just to draw seven congressional districts.”