Redistricting stalls as South Carolina lawmakers focus on budget

Bamberg County’s voice in Columbia is tied up in two fights at once: a stalled congressional redistricting push and a state budget lawmakers still have not finished. Rep. Justin Bamberg pressed that point as the Legislature worked through the map proposal, warning that local priorities can get pushed aside when leaders spend time on district lines instead of state spending.

The redistricting bill, H. 5683, passed the House on May 20 and went to the Senate, where senators voted 26-18 on May 26 against ending debate early. That left the measure stalled for now. The House version would have delayed South Carolina’s congressional primaries until Aug. 18, 2026, a shift that would have changed the pace of the election year for the state’s seven U.S. House seats and forced election officials to plan for another round of voting.

State election officials said a second set of congressional primaries in August could cost taxpayers at least $2.2 million. That added another layer to the fight for Bamberg County voters, because a redraw does more than move lines on a map. It can decide which member of Congress has the strongest claim to speak for local voters, how much attention Bamberg County gets in Washington, and how much leverage the county carries when its issues reach Columbia.

Bamberg put the budget dispute at the center of the argument. “We don’t even have a state budget yet,” he said, while noting that farmers across South Carolina were still waiting on the final decision on $35 million in farm aid. The Senate budget included a proposed $35 million farmer assistance program, while the House budget process had already produced a $15.4 billion first draft and a $15.3 billion second draft, showing how closely the spending fight and redistricting fight were moving together.

The political backlash has been sharp. The ACLU of South Carolina opposed the redistricting push as partisan gerrymandering, and the ACLU and League of Women Voters challenged the process in court over debate rules and public notice. The existing congressional map is widely described as a 6-1 Republican plan, with Jim Clyburn holding the lone Democratic-leaning district, which helps explain why the latest push has been treated as a serious partisan contest rather than routine map maintenance.

For Bamberg County, the practical next step is not abstract. Lawmakers still have to decide whether to finish the budget first, return to H. 5683, or let the redistricting fight spill into another round after summer deadlines tighten. Until then, the county’s representation, and the money tied to it, remain in flux.