The South Carolina Senate abruptly adjourned on Tuesday without taking up a new congressional map that aimed to eliminate the state\u2019s lone majority Black district and cement an entirely Republican delegation.<\/p>\n
By refusing to act, lawmakers defied pressure from President Trump and national conservatives to wade into the country\u2019s redistricting wars before the November elections.<\/p>\n
The State Senate failed to pass a motion to stop debate on the map, signaling that with early voting already underway on Tuesday, there was no longer enough support among Republicans to push through new district lines before the state\u2019s June 9 primary. Instead, the Senate agreed to adjourn, effectively punting votes on a new map until after the primary.<\/p>\n
The vote ensures that for now, South Carolina will remain among the outliers in the South. Other Republican-led states have raced to respond to the Supreme Court\u2019s weakening of the Voting Rights Act by diluting districts where a majority of Black voters have repeatedly elected Democrats.<\/p>\n
But in South Carolina, the prospect of throwing out thousands of ballots was enough to prevent enough Republican support for new district lines. Nearly 45,000 votes had already been cast by 3 p.m. Tuesday during the first day of early voting.<\/p>\n
It is likely that South Carolina will return to the debate for future elections. Leaders in Georgia<\/a> and Mississippi, where primaries have already been held, have signaled that they want to redraw their own district lines in time for the 2028 elections.<\/p>\n After the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling last month, pressure escalated for lawmakers to slice up South Carolina\u2019s only majority Black district, which has repeatedly stood behind Representative James E. Clyburn, a Black Democrat. Mr. Clyburn, 85, is seeking an 18th term in Congress, and remains a powerful political force.<\/p>\n But even as Mr. Trump and his allies pressured the South Carolina Legislature to join other lawmakers across the country and shore up Republican advantages ahead of the midterms, fears persisted about weakening the political chances of incumbents in a year where conservatives already face headwinds. And there were worries about rushing a process that might not withstand a legal challenge.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, with lawmakers and constituents alike casting their votes early, it became clear that those concerns were enough to preserve district lines.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,\u201d said State Senator Richard Cash, a Republican from northwestern South Carolina, speaking on Tuesday. He added: \u201cMany of us are also frustrated and disappointed in what is a very unsatisfying outcome, but we need to face it.\u201d<\/p>\n State Senator Brad Hutto, the Democratic minority leader, said in an interview that Democrats had worked all weekend to make sure thousands of voters flooded the polls on Tuesday to send a message, both visually and politically.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people in South Carolina was sending us a message that their vote mattered,\u201d Mr. Hutto said. \u201cIt was important, and they didn\u2019t want us to cancel their vote.\u201d<\/p>\n The State House, which passed the new map on May 20, had always been much more receptive to the idea of redistricting. Its members are up for re-election this year, and it did not go unnoticed that many of the Republican state senators in Indiana who voted down the president\u2019s plan on redistricting lost their primaries this month to challengers he had endorsed.<\/p>\n The Republicans who backed the map framed their support as a way to help cement G.O.P. control of the state\u2019s federal delegation at a moment when Congress is narrowly divided.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the map \u2014 I would like to see it become law,\u201d said State Senator Larry Grooms, a Republican. Speaking on Tuesday, he added that he believed \u201cthis is our last and best chance to pass this map\u201d and that without a successful procedural vote, \u201cit\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n But some of Mr. Grooms\u2019s colleagues in the Senate were far more skeptical of the scramble to enact new district lines this summer. Senate members are not up for re-election until 2028.<\/p>\n