\n<\/p>\n
COLUMBIA, S.C. — <\/span>Republicans in the South Carolina House cast aside Democratic objections and endorsed a congressional redistricting plan just after midnight Tuesday, moving to give the GOP a shot at winning an additional seat in the November midterm elections. <\/p>\n The redistricting plan, urged on by President Donald Trump, would reshape the state’s only Democratic-held U.S. House district to the Republicans’ advantage as part of a broader national effort<\/a> to retain the party’s slim House majority in the fall. <\/p>\n Four Republicans voted against the bill after a 14-hour session that included reading the bill and all the Census data creating the maps for over three hours.<\/p>\n The bill now heads to the more skeptical state Senate, where some Republicans have questioned whether redistricting could backfire \u2014 making districts competitive enough for Democrats to gain seats instead of securing all seven for the GOP. <\/p>\n Trump had urged South Carolina to redraw its congressional districts ahead of November amid a fast-closing window to complete the work. Early primary voting starts May 26. If the proposal ultimately becomes law, South Carolina would delay its U.S. House primaries until later in the summer and spend at least $3 million on another statewide election \u2014 and likely face lawsuits against a new map.<\/p>\n \u201cTo President Trump,” said Republican Rep. Luke Rankin who sponsored the bill. “I have your back and South Carolina Republicans have your back.\u201d <\/p>\n Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn<\/a>, whose seat is targeted, has said he will continue running for an 18th term even if his district gets changed.<\/p>\n During Tuesday’s debate, Democrats praised Clyburn’s work on behalf of the state and repeatedly objected to plans to reshape his district. Republicans repeatedly rejected their amendments. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat you all are doing is wrong,\u201d said Democratic state Rep. JA Moore, adding: \u201cYou can justify it, rationalize it, but it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican state Rep. Melissa Oremus accused Democrats of \u201cfear-mongering\u201d for raising concerns about the potential impact on Black voters, asserting: \u201cPeople are not being blocked from voting because of the color of their skin.\u201d<\/p>\n To buy time for any new map to be implemented, the South Carolina legislation would remove U.S. House races from the June primaries and instead set a special primary election in August to select candidates. Some absentee and overseas military votes that already have been cast for Congress would be tossed out.<\/p>\n Other Southern states have pursued a similar approach as they rush to redraw U.S. House districts following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision<\/a> that struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an illegal racial gerrymander and significantly weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts. <\/p>\n Louisiana\u2019s congressional primaries, scheduled for last Saturday, were postponed<\/a> until later this summer by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to allow time for new districts to be drawn.<\/p>\n Primary election ballots were being cast Tuesday in Alabama<\/a>. But the state plans to void the results in four of the seven U.S. House districts and instead hold special primaries Aug. 11 for those districts under different boundaries. The revised districts<\/a> could help Republicans win an additional seat in November. <\/p>\n All told, Republicans think they could win as many as 15 additional seats from revised US. House districts in seven states so far, while Democrats think they could gain up to six seats from new House districts in two states. That tally could change, though, as litigation continues in several states. Voters ultimately will decide whether those projections hold up. <\/p>\n The ramifications could extend beyond government and politics.<\/p>\n