Proposed House SC congressional map joins Columbia & Oconee. What will Senate do?
A proposed new South Carolina congressional map would connect parts of Columbia to Oconee County in one district, pair Charleston and Myrtle Beach in another district, may put U.S. Reps. Jim Clyburn and Joe Wilson in the same district, and split Lancaster and York counties into different districts in the Charlotte area.
Redrawing the state’s congressional map will kick off Friday with a House hearing. But uncertainty continues over whether the General Assembly will be able to debate or pass new congressional maps after the legislative deadline May 14.
The day after the House passed an amended sine die agreement allowing them to come back and take up redistricting after the formal end of the legislative session on May 14, House members released a proposed Congressional map as a starting point for redistricting discussions.
But whether the Senate, which also has a Republican supermajority, can muster the necessary votes to agree to take up redistricting after May 14 remains to be seen. The chamber did not take up the sine die agreement Thursday, opting to take the weekend to review the proposed map. When a vote in the state Senate is not known.
“Senators wanted to have a better idea of what they were being asked to vote on before they voted one way or another, and that includes giving them the maps,” Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told reporters Thursday afternoon.
It’s unclear if the Senate will agree to amend the sine die deal. Sine die is the last official day of the legislative session, but lawmakers can pass a deal allowing them to come back for specific purposes. Absent an agreement, the governor can call back the General Assembly, but can’t dictate what they work on.
Massey, who has opposed redistricting between censuses, said he was not trying to convince members of his caucus to vote one way or the other.
“I think this is every senator for himself, herself, as far as what they think is the best thing to do for the people they represent,” he said.
House lawmakers proposed two bills Thursday to handle redistricting. One bill outlined the process for revised congressional elections, which includes pushing the congressional primaries back to Aug. 11, and another bill contained the draft map, said state Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort. Newton chairs the Judiciary Committee, which will handle the first steps of redistricting.
Both bills are scheduled to have public hearings Friday morning in front of a House Judiciary Committee panel.
“We’re going to start the process and see where that takes us. But there’s no point in delaying and starting the process. Handful of days left, with or without sine die, and so we’re going to go ahead and get started,” Weston Newton said Wednesday evening.
Proposed map
The proposed map would split Richland County between the 2nd, 3rd and 5th congressional districts. Clyburn and Wilson would be put into the same district. Charleston would be included in a district with the Grand Strand. Another district stretches from North Charleston down the peninsula and up the coast to connect with Georgetown and Horry counties.
The 3rd district would stretch from Oconee County into Columbia.
Greenville and Spartanburg counties would each be divided between the 4th and 5th districts. York County also is split up between the 6th district and 5th district. It also splits York County and Lancaster County separate from one another, even though they are both a part of the Charlotte area.
“You are separating those communities of interest, those communities, they go together. York and Lancaster go together,” Massey said. “They do everything together, and if, when you split them, it causes a real problem for that base.”
Massey has been adamantly opposed to taking up a middecade redistricting effort as President Donald Trump has wanted in order to minimize expected Republican losses in the upcoming midterm elections. The state’s current congressional map was drawn as a partisan gerrymander designed to give Republicans six seats and Democrats one seat.
Massey has feared changing the maps would put districts in play and could backfire against Republicans. Instead of a desired 7-0 map, it could lead to a 5-2 map.
“My concerns are still the same, and that is that if we get too cute with this, that we could end up losing seats. And I think, if we’re going to spill all the blood that’s necessary to do something like this, we can’t stay in the same position, and you surely can’t go backwards,” Massey said.
Massey warned changing the Congressional lines, making them more competitive, would affect those running down the ticket.
“If you’re making three or four seats competitive, you’re going to get better Democratic candidates, and you’re going to get more money for those candidates. And when more money gets spent on Democratic side, you’re going to affect down-ballot races, which is State House races this year, county council and everything else,” Massey said.
“There’s lots of things that we need to be concerned about, and nothing in that map has changed my opinion,” he continued.
What’s next for primary elections?
With the potential for new maps, House lawmakers are preparing to push back congressional primary elections, which are scheduled for June 9.
State Rep. Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster, said Wednesday evening they were interested in running two primary elections: a regularly scheduled election with statewide, state House and local seats on the ballot and another congressional election at a later date.
A House proposal with a few dozens sponsors, including House Speaker Murrell Smith and Brandon Newton, would push congressional elections to August 11 and reopen filing for the seats.
Massey said Tuesday “it would be a debate” whether the primary elections would split, if the General Assembly goes through with redistricting. State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, also filed a proposal to push all primary elections to August 11.
“I think that no matter which of those resolutions comes up, there’s going to be considerable debate in the Senate on that issue,” Massey said.
This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 8:00 PM.
