South Carolina Republicans block Trump’s effort to gain more House seats

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Republicans faced twin setbacks Tuesday in their plans to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections, with members of their own party blocking new districts in South Carolina and a federal court halting them in Alabama.

The failure to approve a new map in South Carolina preserved the district of Rep. James E. Clyburn, a power broker within the Democratic Party and the first Black member of Congress elected from the state in nearly a century. His district was kept intact when a contingent of Republicans in the state Senate joined with Democrats to prevent approval of a new map.

Those plans sputtered out just hours after a federal court blocked Alabama from using a map designed to give Republicans an edge in six of seven congressional districts in the state. That victory for Democrats may be fleeting, as Republicans in the state promised to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

The unanimous three-judge panel ruled that Alabama could not use its map because the panel had years ago determined it “represents an intentional effort to crack the Black population in Alabama.”

Republicans across the South in recent weeks have sought to take advantage of a Supreme Court decision that makes it easier to draw congressional districts in their favor. The decision, which weakened the Voting Rights Act, is likely to diminish the number of majority-Black districts.

The setback in Alabama came as Republicans in Louisiana and South Carolina sought to lock in new districts in their favor.

In Alabama, the judicial panel, which includes two judges appointed by President Donald Trump, told the state for now to use the map that was in effect for the last election. Under that map, the state sent five White Republicans and two Black Democrats to Congress.

But the judges also left the Republican-run legislature the opportunity to draw the state’s congressional map yet again. That gives Republicans a chance to engineer a new map favoring them. They could also appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Republicans have long sought to give themselves a 6-1 advantage in Alabama but have been blocked by courts. They tried again after the Supreme Court last month issued its decision curbing the Voting Rights Act.

The fight over Alabama’s map quickly returned to court, and the Supreme Court two weeks ago issued an order that appeared to clear the way for the state to use its preferred map. But the panel of lower-court judges on Tuesday made Alabama’s path more difficult and blocked the use of that map.

The panel found that Alabama officials intentionally discriminated against Black voters. (The Supreme Court ruling, though it weakened the Voting Rights Act, still bars states from intentionally discriminating.)

“The purpose of the 2023 Plan was to distribute Black voters across districts to dilute their votes, at least in part because they are Black,” the judges wrote.

Many redistricting cases are initially handled by three-judge panels instead of a single judge. The panel in the Alabama case consists of Stanley Marcus, a judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals appointed by President Bill Clinton; Anna M. Manasco, a judge in Alabama’s northern district appointed by Trump; and Terry F. Moorer, a judge in Alabama’s southern district appointed by Trump.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) said he would immediately appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, and Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said she hoped the justices will reverse the panel’s decision.

“I will continue to say: Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said in a statement.

Ordinarily, states draw new congressional maps at the start of each decade after receiving information about population shifts. Trump last year launched an unusual mid-decade redistricting fight by telling Republican-led states to redraw their map to boost their chances of hanging onto the GOP’s fragile House majority.

Democrats retaliated, but had less success, and GOP redistricting efforts gained new steam when the Supreme Court issued its decision on the Voting Rights Act.

Across the country, Republicans are likely to gain a net advantage of about 10 additional House districts, a number that could shift slightly depending on what happens in Alabama and South Carolina in the coming weeks.

In Alabama, Ivey postponed this month’s primaries in four congressional districts so Republicans could use their preferred map. Those primaries are now slated for August, but the state’s overall plan remains in flux because of Tuesday’s court ruling.

Patrick Marley writes about voting issues for The Washington Post. He previously covered the Wisconsin Capitol for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.