by Kevin Killough
The GOP-led South Carolina Senate voted down a measure that would have advanced a new congressional map. The vote brings to an end a last-minute redistricting effort in the state.
President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to pass a redrawn map, which would have eliminated the state’s single majority-Black district, NBC News reported.
Earlier this month, Senate Republicans refused to take up the proposal as part of the regular session, showing reluctance to redraw the state’s congressional districts. In the face of pressure from national Republicans and the White House, Gov. Henry McMaster called a special session for the Senate to consider the measure.
The South Carolina House approved the map last week, and supporters hoped to have the new map in place for this year’s midterm elections.
In reaction to the state Senate voting down a new congressional map, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said he was “disappointed the Senate failed to get this bill across the finish line.”
“South Carolina had an opportunity to finally give voters in the 6th Congressional District a fairer and more competitive map. I have said all along that our state has both the authority and the responsibility to fix it. This fight is not over,” he said on social media.
Pamela Evette, lieutenant governor of South Carolina, said the “South Carolina State Senate failed the people of South Carolina today. While President [Trump] is delivering on his America First agenda and Making America Great Again, the State Senate failed to deliver a strong redistricting map that reflects the conservative values of our state.”
Evette, who is running for South Carolina governor, said, “The Senate’s inaction protects the status quo and ignores the will of the people who overwhelmingly rejected the radical left’s agenda. Republicans were elected to lead, fight, and deliver results, not stall, surrender, and protect political insiders.”
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Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “South Carolina Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.
