House passes redistricting bill that could reshape Allendale County race

What would it mean for Allendale County if the 6th Congressional District finally became competitive again? For voters here, the biggest change could be a district that starts drawing real campaign attention instead of functioning as a safe seat, with more money, more organizing, and more pressure on candidates to court rural communities along the I-95 corridor.

That possibility moved closer last week when the South Carolina House passed H. 5683, a bill that would redraw the state’s seven congressional districts mid-decade. The measure passed 74-37 on May 20 and was sent the same day to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The current congressional map was enacted in January 2022.

Allendale County is now in the 6th Congressional District, along with all of Hampton, Jasper, Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon and Williamsburg counties, plus parts of other counties. The district is South Carolina’s only Democratic-held congressional seat, and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has represented it for 34 years. Under the proposed map, that political landscape could change enough to force both parties to treat the district as a real battleground.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned that the proposal could make three or four seats competitive and drive up Democratic fundraising. That matters far beyond Columbia. If the map becomes law, campaigns that once skipped over Allendale County could be more likely to pay attention to local turnout, absentee voting, and voter contact in places that usually see less of the state’s political spending.

The bill’s movement also comes with timing concerns. South Carolina’s congressional primaries are only weeks away, and the House separately advanced a measure to delay those primaries by two months so filing could reopen for candidates. Senate Republicans had already postponed debate on a redistricting-related resolution and later rejected an effort to take up redistricting, underscoring how unsettled the fight remained even after the House vote.

A map backed by the White House circulated at the Statehouse as lawmakers weighed whether to move ahead before the regular session ended. For Allendale County, the question is no longer whether redistricting is being discussed in Columbia. It is whether the county’s place in the 6th District will stay tied to a long-standing seat, or become part of a new contest that could reshape who shows up here and who is forced to listen.