Tipsheet

BETRAYAL: What Were These South Carolina Republicans Thinking?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  May 26, 2026 3:00 PM

It’s finished, everyone. The effort to redraw South Carolina’s congressional maps has been stopped by Republicans in the state Senate. The upper chamber in Columbia voted 20-24 to prevent the change—about a dozen Republicans joined Democrats. 

We cleared a major procedural hurdle over the weekend when the Senate invoked cloture on the second reading of the map. We needed a third reading before sending it back to the State House, but the SC GOP deliberately delayed it. It became clear that the map wouldn't be ready by the start of early voting. Early voting undermined Virginia Democrats’ map, which is why South Carolina Republicans decided to put this on hold until the next session. 

Gov. Henry McMaster was initially non-committal about a special session, then he called one, and this is the outcome. It was a complete betrayal, and it doesn’t help that Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey was strongly opposed to this effort, too. 

"It was all a setup," said former SC State Rep. Adam Morgan.

A bunch of Republicans in the Palmetto State was the Indiana treatment, I guess. I don’t care if the maps are redrawn next session. 

There is no shortage of meat hooks to hang traitors to the cause. Get them ready.

Here are the traitors, and they think that because their elections aren't until 2028, they're safe. They're not. 

We'll be waiting.