Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to South Carolina’s “Stark Racial Gerrymander” of Congressional District 1

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a challenge brought by South Carolina Republican officials seeking to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to redraw their “stark racial gerrymander” of a congressional district in the state. The dispute arose from the redistricting plan that was enacted by South Carolina’s GOP-led state legislature after the 2020 Census, which gave Republicans an advantage in Congressional District 1.

The First Congressional District had reliably elected a Republican for decades until Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) flipped it in 2018 in an enormous upset. Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham represented the district for one term, and he went on to lose to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in 2020.

The lower court ruling found that the redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the voting power of African-American voters and ordered the state to redraw the district lines. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case could have major implications for the future of redistricting in the state.

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a major development in the ongoing battle over the future of redistricting in South Carolina. The ruling could have a significant impact on the state’s congressional map and could potentially lead to a new map being drawn in the coming months.

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case could also have implications for redistricting efforts across the country. The case could set a precedent for how states draw congressional district lines, and could potentially lead to more legal challenges to gerrymandering in other states.