By Joseph Ax
May 14 (Reuters) – Republicans in Louisiana and South Carolina on Thursday took steps toward installing new congressional maps aimed at eliminating one Democratic-held seat in each state, as a national redistricting battle expands further across the South.
In Louisiana, the Republican-controlled state Senate passed a new congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two Democratic-held, majority-Black U.S. House districts, paving the way for Republicans to pick up an additional seat in November’s midterm elections.
And in South Carolina, Republican Governor Henry McMaster on Thursday reversed positions and called for a special legislative session starting on Friday to consider redrawing the state’s congressional map, a move that would likely oust longtime Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn from Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Republican-led Southern states have raced to redraw their congressional maps after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision two weeks ago that severely weakened protections for districts with significant minority populations. Tennessee and Alabama have also either split up Democratic districts or taken steps to do so.
The new round of redistricting is part of a broader national fight that is likely to give Republicans a major boost as they seek to preserve a narrow majority in this fall’s election, though Democrats are still seen as favored to win the House given President Donald Trump’s sagging approval ratings.
The Louisiana map, which was approved 27-10 along party lines, will next head to the state House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a more than two-thirds majority.
Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry previously suspended the congressional primary elections a day after the Supreme Court decision and only two days before early in-person voting was set to begin. Thousands of absentee ballots had already been returned by mail.
Democratic lawmakers, civil rights activists and voting rights advocates have criticized the proposed map for diluting the electoral power of Black residents, who make up about one-third of the state’s population. The new map would likely result in Republicans winning five of the state’s six districts in November.
“This Senate should seek to support a map that gives everyone a voice,” Democratic state Senator Katrina Jackson-Andrews said from the Senate floor on Thursday.
Republicans, including the bill’s sponsor, state Senator Jay Morris, said the map was drawn solely for partisan advantage, rather than along racial lines.
The current map, which includes majority-Black districts centered in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, which found lawmakers relied too heavily on race in crafting the lines.
The new map includes only a single Democratic district that connects the two cities, which could pit the two Democratic incumbent U.S. representatives, Troy Carter and Cleo Fields, against one another.
In South Carolina, McMaster’s announcement came two days after a vote to extend the legislative session and consider a new map failed in the state Senate, when five Republicans broke with their party to deny the required two-thirds majority.
McMaster had previously indicated he would defer to the legislature. But Trump has pressured state Republicans to pursue a new map that would eliminate the state’s lone Democratic district, held by Clyburn, a Black Democrat who is a leading figure within his party and has served in Congress since 1993.
Unlike the resolution that failed this week, any new map would only require a simple majority vote in both legislative chambers, which are dominated by Republicans.
The state House of Representatives has already advanced a proposal that would split up Clyburn’s seat while postponing the June 9 primary elections until August to accommodate the new district lines. Republicans hold the state’s other six districts.
(Reporting by Joseph AxEditing by Rod Nickel and Lincoln Feast.)
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