SC redistricting proposal hearing likely end of line for new congressional maps
An attempt to redraw South Carolina’s Congressional districts may have seen its last discussion in the State House amid fears a new map would most likely lead to time-consuming litigation and possibly a map with fewer Republicans representing the Palmetto State in U.S. House of Representatives.
“I don’t see it moving,” said state Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, who led a House Judiciary panel that held a hearing on a proposal from state Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley, for a new congressional map.
Pace got to continue his push to have a mid-decade redraw the state’s Congressional map, in hopes of gaining a Republican seat. Republicans currently hold six of the state’s seven Congressional seats.
The push to redraw the 6th Congressional District comes amidst the efforts across the country to redraw congressional district ahead of November’s midterm elections.
President Donald Trump called on Texas to redraw its districts to help stave off potential Republican losses in the U.S. House. California responded by pushing efforts to draw its districts to elect more Democrats. Other states since have joined the battles.
Jordan, like those in Republican leadership, is concerned a redraw of a map may have the opposite effect Pace is hoping for.
“I think sure you know this, looking at the national maps, it’s very competitive race., numbers wise, in the U.S. House of Representative, where loss of a seat here can make a difference in who controls Congress,” Jordan said if the map results in a 5-2 split instead of 6-1.
During the hearing, local GOP leaders pushed for a redraw.
“For 30 years, the 30 plus years, the 6th District has been drawn in a way that protects a political outcome, not the people who live there. And that’s not healthy for democracy,” said Dorchester County Republican Party Chairman CJ Westfall said.
State Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said the same argument can be made in an inverse where Republicans hold districts that are heavily red.
“What about those folks who they don’t like their congressional rep, and they haven’t liked their congressional rep for however many years that person’s been in office?” Bamberg said. “Should they be able to come up here and just say, ‘hey, we feel like we don’t have a choice. So redraw the maps so my person or my party can win.’ ”
Westfall said Democrats have to do better connecting with voters.
“The reality that we live in is that the voters in this state have chosen to give us a super majority on the Republican side. It’s up to us to decide what we do with it, and it’s up to Democrats to go change hearts and minds,” Westfall said.
Movement unlikely
The hearing on the bill took place Wednesday with no movement taking place. Pace, who is the leader of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus is pushing the bill. However, members of a five-lawmaker subcommittee did not seem enthusiastic about moving forward with efforts to push for a mid-decade redistricting process.
Pace’s move comes after U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, has publicly pushed for redrawing the state’s congressional map to oust U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Santee, from the 6th District.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and legislative leadership have said they’re against redrawing lines.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has said that if the state redraws lines it may not end with a desired 7-0 GOP map. It may end up with a 5-2 map.
Pace called the hearing a step in the right direction, but hasn’t spoken to Senate leadership about taking up the bill if the bill moved out of the House.
“I can’t control what they’re going to do. I can ask them and they can tell me, but frankly, they may not. Senate leadership may not even be in total control of that. If the majority of the Senate wants to take it up, then they’ll take it up,” Pace said.
Potential smaller margins in races
In the most recent election every congressional seat was decided by at least 17 points. Clyburn won the 6th Congressional District by 23 points. The largest margin was in the 3rd Congressional District with a 46-point margin.
Under Pace’s proposal, the 6th District would become a Democratic plus 8 seat, according to the Berkeley County state representative. The other districts would have Republican advantages ranging from an 8-point margin to 23-point margin. Pace points out that he didn’t adjust the 1st District boundaries in his proposal.
Any new map would likely end up in court just like the map adopted after the 2020 census. Litigation would likely be time-consuming, and the state will have to redraw maps again after the 2030 census.
The districts in the Pace map are not compact. The 3rd Congressional District would stretch from Oconee County to Jasper County. The 2nd Congressional District would stretch from Greenville into Columbia to the Sumter County line. The 6th District would stretch from Charlotte to Charleston.
Pace’s proposal also would split 11 counties, up from 10 in the current map.
“It pretty much neglects every standard traditional redistricting principle of representing communities of interest, and it is clearly designed to achieve a partisan purpose,” said Lynn Teague, the vice president of Issues and Action for the League of Women Voters, said of the proposed map.
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 10:58 AM.
