Republicans Revolt And Hand Dems Stunning Win Against Trump’s Redistricting Push

The Trump-led redistricting effort in South Carolina failed in the state senate Tuesday after several Republicans defected to join Democrats in blocking the new map from advancing to a final vote.

The 20-24 vote fell short of the 26 needed to move the map forward, a defeat that came despite Trump’s public pressure on South Carolina Republicans to follow the lead of red states such as Texas, Florida, and North Carolina and give the GOP a stronger advantage in November’s pivotal elections.

The new map, which passed the state house last week, would have axed the state’s lone Democratic district, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. The failed vote is a significant setback to President Trump’s redistricting agenda, which suffered an additional defeat Tuesday after a panel of federal judges blocked the use of a Republican-backed map in Alabama.

Several Republican defectors joined all Democrats in voting against advancing the map, a move that closely mirrors the Indiana state senate’s December action after it rejected a map that would likely have flipped two Democratic seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The vote reportedly came as a surprise to the Trump administration, with an administration official telling NBC News that “the votes were there” and that the White House had “no new information” indicating the map would fail to advance. Another White House adviser called the vote a “betrayal.”

GOP leadership in the state senate had shown some resistance to enacting the new map, given that primary elections were already underway across the state.

“Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable,” GOP Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said earlier this month, adding that he refused to surrender to Trump on this issue. “I have too much Southern blood in me to surrender. Indeed, as some of you will recognize, it is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, to think and act for myself.”

Following the vote, several Republican state senators defended their votes on more practical grounds.

“South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today. And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway,” Republican state Sen. Richard Cash said.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump had personally urged South Carolina lawmakers to move forward with the measure. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was “watching closely” and called on state Republicans to “be bold and courageous,” citing Tennessee’s recent decision to split up its only deep blue district.

Tuesday’s vote arrives on the heels of state senate primaries in Indiana, where five of the seven Republican state senators who resisted a Trump-aligned redistricting effort were ousted in their primaries by challengers carrying the president’s endorsement — a stark omen for the South Carolina holdouts.

Drew Berkemeyer contributed to this report.