6 or 7 Republicans? Would SC be better off with at least 1 Democrat in Congress?
Since 1993, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has represented South Carolina in Congress, and is now the lone Democratic member of the state’s congressional delegation.
Clyburn has helped keep South Carolina Democrats on the national map. And he may be key when it comes to bringing back resources to the state when the GOP doesn’t have control.
Even though Republicans control the White House and Congress now, it won’t always be the case as the political pendulum will swing back to the left.
With the latest redistricting ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, pressure has mounted for state lawmakers to draw a map that produces a 7-0 Republican map instead of a 6-1 map, and oust Clyburn from his seat. The same Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s congressional map as a partisan gerrymander. The state House supports taking up redistricting, as the state Senate mulls it over.
But making the districts more competitive in a general election in order to gain a 7-0 split, could backfire on Republicans, Clyburn warned.
“Be very careful what you pray for, because what I do believe is that, when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United States Congress,” Clyburn said Sunday on CNN.
The attempts at a middecade redistricting comes after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down Louisiana’s congressional map saying race could not be used as a factor when drawing district lines. President Donald Trump has pushed for redistricting efforts in Republican-led states to shore up against potential GOP losses in the upcoming midterm elections. Democratic-led states have attempted to respond in kind.
Without Clyburn, South Carolina would lose a longtime member of Congress who has seniority in the U.S. House.
Clyburn, who has stepped back from Democratic leadership in the House, sits on the House Appropriations Committee giving him influence over where federal tax dollars are sent.
Democrats have also pointed to the federal influence Clyburn has had on decision-making at the federal level.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, a Clyburn protégé, credits Clyburn with securing the state’s ability to deepen the port of Charleston to allow for larger container ships. The port of Savannah already had authorization.
Harrison said Clyburn called Vice President Joe Biden who relayed the message to President Barack Obama to get their support for deepening the port of Charleston.
“Nikki Haley couldn’t have gotten it done. Lindsey Graham couldn’t have gotten it done. It was because we had a Democrat in the White House and a Democrat in Congress who was able to get it done. Now think about had that not happened think about where the South Carolina port would be right now today if Savannah was deep, but we weren’t. Think about the billions of dollars we would have lost,” Harrison said at Friday’s redistricting hearing at the State House.
“This is not about Democrats versus Republicans. Strom Thurmond and Fritz Hollins used to work together in Washington, D.C., to bring back every dime that they could for South Carolina. And it didn’t matter if it was a Democrat dime or a Republican dime, it was a South Carolina dime,” Harrison added.
U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, who served in the Iraq War, credited Clyburn with protecting one of South Carolina’s military bases.
“Clyburn is the only reason Parris Island, (Marine Corps boot camp) wasn’t closed under Biden,” Gallego posted on X.
One Republican leader in the General Assembly acknowledged the need to have someone in the Palmetto State who has the ear of the president when a Republican does not occupy the Oval Office.
“Well, there’s going to be another Democratic president at some point,” Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said. “I hope that’s not the case, but it’s going to happen, and it is important, I think, that there’s somebody from South Carolina can make a call and somebody at the White House will answer it.”
Republicans want more Republicans, Democrats want more Democrats
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-Seneca, who is running for reelection this year and currently chairs the Senate Budget Committee, acknowledged the need for bipartisanship.
Graham and Clyburn led the South Carolina delegation to secure a $175 million grant in July 2024 to replace four bridges on Interstate 95 over Lake Marion during President Joe Biden’s administration.
But Graham told reporters Republicans have to fight against Democratic moves in other places of the country.
“I‘d rather have more Republicans if I could get them,” said Graham, a longtime Trump ally. “Here’s something that stood the test of time. Republicans want more Republicans and Democrats want more Democrats.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Springdale, who would live in the same district as Clyburn if the current proposed map is enacted, said he supports redistricting. He said keeping the GOP in the majority would prevent impeachment efforts against Trump.
“There’s such a push from the far left of impeachment that if we don’t keep a majority our country could be in perpetual, endless impeachment,” Wilson told reporters.
Wilson said gerrymandering efforts by Democrats across the country leads to disappearance of bipartisanship.
“We’re in competition and so what used to be is gone, and it’s gone not because of us. It’s gone because of them,” Wilson said.
Back in Columbia, some GOP members in the state House insist the move isn’t it about Clyburn and rather making sure the maps are drawn within the Constitution.
“This isn’t about any one person. This is simply about the process of making sure the maps are constitutional and they are ones that are fair and honest and that we can use. It doesn’t matter who’s in the seats,” said state Rep. Brandon Newton, who serves as an assistant House majority leader. “These seats are not ours, and they’re not the congressman’s. They are the people seats.”
