How will SC political power play out? Senate to hold first redistricting meeting
The South Carolina Senate will hold its first meeting next week to talk about how the chamber might redraw district lines, a process that only comes once-in-a-decade but can have serious implications on South Carolinians’ daily lives.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s redistricting panel will meet at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday to organize and hear from its lawyer, according to the meeting’s agenda.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin, R-Horry, will chair the seven-member panel that includes state Republican Sens. Chip Campsen, of Charleston, Scott Talley, of Spartanburg and Tom Young, of Aiken. Democrats on the panel are state Sens. Margie Bright Matthews, of Colleton, Dick Harpootlian, of Richland, and Ronnie Sabb of Williamsburg.
The House — whose 124 members are all up for reelection in 2022 — has yet to publicly schedule its own meeting. But House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester, told The State on Friday that the House has been working on redistricting for the last two to three weeks and plans to appoint a special committee with a first meeting on Aug. 3.
“We hope to have a redistricting plan in front of the full House for consideration by the end of the year,” he said.
South Carolinians will want to pay particular close attention to the redistricting process, which can be contentious.
Census numbers that’ll affect how district lines are drawn matter because they help determine political power in Washington, but also will help determine how the federal government allocates $1.5 trillion in federal program spending that includes health care and education.
Drilled down statewide and county and city data for South Carolina and the rest of the country has not been released by the U.S. Census after delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data is slated to come out by Aug. 16, and it will include demographic breakdowns of race and ethnicity, voting-age population, housing units and more, according to the Census.
In April, the U.S. Census released new population data overall showed the Palmetto State’s population is booming.
Nearly 500,000 new residents moved to South Carolina over a 10-year period, pushing the state’s total population to more than more than 5.1 million — or 5,118,425, to be more specific — a 10.7% growth over the last Census figures.
The state’s population surge, however, was not enough to add an extra seat in the 435-member U.S. House, but it also wasn’t enough to lose one either. South Carolina has seven U.S. House districts, the last added in 2010 and held by U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach.
“It impacts what type of resources are available to their local governments to the extent that flow is based on population,” Bob Oldendick, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina, told The State in April. “A lot of times, people focus on what happens at the national level, but it’s the government that’s closest to you that has (more) impact on your lives.”
This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 4:04 PM with the headline "How will SC political power play out? Senate to hold first redistricting meeting."
