South Carolina legislature advances redistricting proposal after Trump encouragement
The article centers government officials' statements—AG Wilson, Lt. Gov. Evette, Trump, and Clyburn—while employing relatively neutral language overall. However, framing tilts slightly right-of-center through sequencing and word choice: Trump's encouragement is presented prominently and his 'watching closely' framing is quoted directly, while Clyburn's counterargument appears lower and his language ('radical') is Trump's, not independently framed.
Primary voices: elected official, state or recognized government, state or recognized government
- This article does not address voting rights groups' or civil rights organizations' positions on the redistricting effort
- This article does not examine the specific demographic impact of the proposed redrawn maps beyond stating it would likely flip the 6th district
- This article does not explore the legal challenges or timeline for court review of the proposal
Framing may shift if courts block the redistricting or if Democratic legal challenges succeed, which could recontextualize the current GOP momentum as temporary.
Government-sourcedEstablishment framingBoth-sides framing
The state’s House judiciary subcommittee passed the proposal in a 3-2 vote. It is now headed to the full judiciary committee for approval. If approved by the state legislature and upheld by courts, the new political map would redraw the only House seat South Carolina held by a Democrat, likely enabling a Republican to flip Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-SC) 6th Congressional District red.
Attorney General Alan Wilson and other South Carolina leaders celebrated the vote’s outcome this week, after President Donald Trump pressed the GOP to pass the redistricting measure.
“This is about fair, constitutional districts that reflect the people of our state,” Wilson said in a post to X. “Momentum is building. Keep contacting your senators.”
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette responded to Trump’s redistricting push by telling lawmakers to” immediately redraw our congressional districts by any means necessary to produce fair, constitutional maps.”
Their words come after Trump on Monday evening told the Palmetto State he was “watching closely” the outcome of Tuesday’s “big vote.”
“They have to stop the Radical Left Democrats from destroying our Country, including leveling the playing field against their decades of egregious Gerrymandering and Census Rigging,” the president said in a post to Truth Social. “South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS.”
The 6th district, which Republicans are looking to redraw, is South Carolina’s only majority-minority seat. The GOP eyed the seat, which Clyburn has held for over three decades, for redistricting in response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that pushed back on racial gerrymandering and protections for majority-black districts.
In Louisiana v. Callais, the majority said states should have greater freedom to redraw political maps without prioritizing racial outcomes, marking a setback for race-based districting. The decision triggered pushes from several red states, including Mississippi and Georgia, to eliminate and redraw race-based districts.
In South Carolina, Clyburn has condemned Republicans for looking to redraw his seat, and give the GOP a boost, arguing their singular goal is to “eliminate the state’s only Democratic House district that is occupied by a Democrat.”
“This fight is bigger than one district,” Clyburn said last week. “It’s about whether our democracy belongs to the people, or to politicians who change the rules when they don’t like the results. We cannot let them succeed.”
“SC Democrat Rep John King says the redistricting effort ‘seems racist,’” Republican state Rep. Adam Morgan said Tuesday. “His comments made while defending a district drawn in the basis of race. The liberal mind is fascinating. …”
Should South Carolina’s redistricting effort be successful, it would likely give the GOP control over all seven of the state’s House seats. Republicans currently hold 6 of the 7 seats.
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