The upcoming Session on SC Redistricting emphasizes the importance of fair representation for all South Carolinians.
Horry County voters could soon share a congressman with downtown Charleston, North Charleston, and Mt. Pleasant — a pairing that would unwind nearly a decade of Pee Dee-Grand Strand political identity in a single legislative session on SC Redistricting.
Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to make that pairing possible Thursday afternoon. After the South Carolina General Assembly adjourns its regular session sine die at 5 p.m., the governor plans to call lawmakers back into a special session focused on a new congressional map and the Session on SC Redistricting [WIS-TV, 2026]. The South Carolina House will reconvene Friday, May 15. The Senate returns Monday, May 18 [WIS-TV, 2026].
The proposed redraw — circulated as H. 5683 — would reshape the 7th Congressional District around Horry, Georgetown, and a chunk of the Charleston metro, replacing the current inland Pee Dee territory that has anchored the seat since 2013 [SC Statehouse, 2026]. For Horry County residents, the change would alter not just who represents them in Washington but which neighbors they are politically yoked to.
Key Issues Addressed in the Special Session on SC Redistricting
## How A Failed Senate Vote Triggered The Special Session
The pressure for a special session built quickly after a procedural failure in the upper chamber. On Tuesday, May 12, the South Carolina Senate failed to advance a “sine die” resolution that would have kept redistricting alive in the final days of the regular session [WMBF News, 2026].
That resolution required a two-thirds supermajority. **It did not get there. Five Republican senators joined Democrats to block the measure** [WMBF News, 2026].
The five Republican holdouts included Sen. Greg Hembree of Little River, whose Senate District 28 covers Horry and Dillon counties. He was joined by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield; Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Summerville; Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms; and Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort [MyrtleBeachSC News, 2026]. Three of the five — Bennett, Campsen, and Davis — represent Lowcountry districts that would absorb pieces of a redrawn 6th, making the no votes as much about home-district stability as constitutional principle.
Davis framed his vote as a defense of the current lines. “South Carolina’s maps are legally sound, our electoral position is strong, and the process being proposed remains constitutionally and practically indefensible,” Davis said [FITSNews, 2026].
Wednesday afternoon, May 13, McMaster informed legislative leaders he would call the chambers back [WIS-TV, 2026]. The mechanics matter: a governor-called special session needs only a simple majority to pass a new map, sidestepping the two-thirds threshold that sank Tuesday’s vote [CBS News, 2026].
McMaster, in a statement quoted by multiple outlets, said he wanted the legislature to finish what it started. I urge the General Assembly to finish its work according to the U.S. and South Carolina constitutions and the best interests of the people,” the governor said [WIS-TV, 2026].
## What The Proposed Map Does To The 7th District
The 7th Congressional District today is a Pee Dee and Grand Strand seat. It covers all of Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, and Marlboro Counties, plus most of Florence County [Ballotpedia, 2026]. The shared political identity is inland and coastal small-town — tobacco country meeting beach country.
H. 5683 would erase that identity. The new 7th would pair Horry and Georgetown with the City of Charleston, North Charleston, and Mt. Pleasant, according to maps circulating in the Statehouse [WIS-TV, 2026].
The practical effect for Horry County: a congressman whose constituency is dominated by a larger metro to the south. **Federal priorities, district staffing, and the political center of gravity of the seat would all shift away from the Grand Strand** [FITSNews, 2026].
Rep. Russell Fry, the Murrells Inlet Republican who currently holds the seat, won reelection in 2024 with 64.9% of the vote [Ballotpedia, 2026]. Under the new lines, Fry — or any future Horry-based candidate — would compete in a district where Charleston-area voters carry significantly more weight. The Charleston metro is several times the size of any single county in the current 7th, which means campaign math, fundraising base, and the issues that dominate town halls all tilt south.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Luke Rankin, R-Laurens. Rankin has been blunt about the goal. “It definitely sets us up for a strong 7-0 map,” Rankin said, referring to a Republican sweep of all seven congressional seats [FITSNews, 2026].
## The Target Is Clyburn’s Seat — And The Math Is Contested
The 6th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Jim Clyburn, is the only Democratic seat in South Carolina and the only majority-Black district in the state [South Carolina Public Radio, 2026]. The proposed map redistributes its voters, including a portion of Charleston-area Democrats now drawn into the 7th, in a way Republican strategists believe could flip the seat.
Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, helped develop the proposed lines [FITSNews, 2026]. House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, has backed the bill. Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, chairs the House Judiciary subcommittee that handled the redistricting work [WIS-TV, 2026].
Not every Republican is convinced the map delivers what its sponsor promises. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, has publicly questioned the projection of a 7-0 sweep.
“At best you’re going to go 6-1, and you may even go 5-2,” Massey said [FITSNews, 2026].
Massey’s skepticism matters because his caucus is the chamber where the map can still die. The same five Republicans who joined Democrats on Tuesday’s procedural vote could reappear when the actual map comes up — though a simple-majority threshold gives leadership more room to absorb defections in the special session than in the regular one.
## National Pressure And A Narrower Voting Rights Act
The South Carolina fight is not happening in isolation. President Donald Trump has pushed Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional lines mid-decade, ahead of the 2026 midterms, and Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri have moved on similar plans [CBS News, 2026].
Trump has weighed in publicly on the South Carolina effort, saying he is “closely” watching whether the legislature acts [South Carolina Public Radio, 2026].
The legal backdrop is a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowing the scope of the Voting Rights Act, which had historically protected districts like the 6th from being redrawn in ways that diluted minority voting power [CBS News, 2026]. That decision is the door GOP map-drawers in several states are walking through this spring.
For South Carolina, the political question is whether the legislature acts before the calendar makes action moot. The state’s congressional primary is currently set for June 9. As of May 8, more than 6,827 absentee ballots had already been mailed under the current district lines [WIS-TV, 2026]. The count has since climbed past 8,000 [FITSNews, 2026].
## What A New Map Means For The Primary Calendar — And The Cost
Moving the lines means moving the election. A companion bill, H. 5684, would push the congressional primary back to give county election offices time to reissue ballots and update precinct assignments [SC Statehouse, 2026]. Dates of August 11 and August 18 have both been floated; sources differ on which McMaster and legislative leaders will land on [WIS-TV, 2026].
The bill for that delay is not small. Estimates put the cost of moving the congressional primary at **more than $2 million** — a number that will land on taxpayers regardless of how the redraw plays out at the ballot box [WIS-TV, 2026].
That cost lands in a state with 3.3 million registered voters and county election offices that have already printed, mailed, and begun processing ballots for the June 9 date [WIS-TV, 2026]. Horry County voters who have already mailed in absentee ballots for the current 7th District would, under a new map, be voting in a district that no longer matches the one their ballot was printed for.
The procedural cost of the delay is on top of any litigation that follows. The map is expected to draw legal challenges from voting rights groups regardless of which version passes — a near-certainty given the redraw of a majority-minority seat.
## What Happens Next
McMaster’s formal call is expected Thursday afternoon, after the regular session adjourns. The House gavels back in Friday, May 15. The Senate follows on Monday, May 18 [WIS-TV, 2026].
The map can move on a simple majority in each chamber. Whether it does will turn on whether the five Republican senators who blocked Tuesday’s resolution are willing to hold the same line when the map itself — not a procedural vehicle — is in front of them, and whether Massey’s “6-1 or 5-2” math survives contact with the political pressure now coming from the White House.
For Horry County, the stakes are concrete. By the time the special session ends, residents may find themselves preparing to vote in August, in a district that runs from the Grand Strand to Mt. Pleasant, for a congressman whose campaign math will be increasingly dictated by Charleston.
## Further Reading
**Previously in this series:**
Special Session on SC Redistricting– [South Carolina Redistricting: The Clyburn Seat Fight](https://myrtlebeachsc.com/south-carolina-redistricting/) — MyrtleBeachSC News
Special Session on SC Redistricting– [South Carolina Senate Blocks Clyburn Redistricting, 29-17](https://myrtlebeachsc.com/sc-senate-blocks-clyburn-redistricting/) — MyrtleBeachSC News
**Outside sources:**
Special Session on SC Redistricting – [WIS-TV — Sources: McMaster expected to call SC lawmakers back for special session](https://www.wistv.com/2026/05/13/sources-mcmaster-call-sc-lawmakers-back-special-session-redistricting/)
Special Session on SC Redistricting – [FITSNews — South Carolina Redistricting Drama: Henry McMaster Calling Special Session](https://www.fitsnews.com/2026/05/13/south-carolina-redistricting-drama-henry-mcmaster-calling-special-session/)
– [South Carolina Public Radio — The State House Gavel: Trump ‘closely’ watching whether SC lawmakers act](https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2026-05-12/the-state-house-gavel-trump-closely-watching-whether-sc-lawmakers-act-on-redistricting-in-final-week)
– [CBS News — South Carolina governor expected to call special session on redistricting](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-carolina-redistricting-special-session-legislature/)
– [WMBF News — SC redistricting now in question after key Senate vote](https://www.wmbfnews.com/2026/05/12/live-measure-bring-sc-lawmakers-back-special-session-redistricting-fails-senate/)
– [Live 5 News — LIVE: SC lawmakers again considering redistricting proposal](https://www.live5news.com/2026/05/12/live-sc-lawmakers-again-consider-redistricting-proposal/)
– [Ballotpedia — South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District](https://ballotpedia.org/South_Carolina’s_7th_Congressional_District)
– [SC Legislature — H. 5683 Redistricting, Congressional Districts](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/5683.htm)
