GOP Redistricting Effort Blocked in Alabama, South Carolina

Republicans endured multiple setbacks in the nationwide redistricting war on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled against a new congressional map in Alabama and state lawmakers blocked a new map in South Carolina. Both plans could have helped Republicans pick up additional seats in November’s midterm elections.

Alabama Redistricting

After the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Louisiana v. Callais limited racial gerrymandering, Alabama lawmakers began working to establish a congressional map that was created in 2023. The map would have favored the GOP and was previously blocked in court.

Despite the Supreme Court’s VRA decision, the three-judge panel blocked Alabama from reverting to the 2023 map, forcing the Heart of Dixie to have two majority black, Democratic-leaning seats. “Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges argued. “We again cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than intentionally discriminatory.”

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) suggested that the court’s decision is another example of “activist judges rewriting our Constitution to impose Washington politics” on the Yellowhammer State, and GOP lawmakers have vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. “Know this — in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said in a statement. Gov. Kay Ivey, also a member of the Grand Old Party, said she “fully support[s]” Marshall’s plan. The governor recently postponed four House races that may be impacted by a new map, setting a special primary election for mid-August.

The Palmetto State

Republican lawmakers in South Carolina voted to block a new congressional map on Tuesday, putting an end to President Donald Trump’s redistricting push in the Palmetto State for now. The South Carolina State House approved the map, but Republicans in the Senate argued they couldn’t make any changes in the middle of primary season. “Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” said Republican state Sen. Richard Cash.

Trump has pressured South Carolina to pass a new congressional map in the wake of the VRA decision, urging lawmakers to “BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS” in the redistricting war. “Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

South Carolina’s GOP was bold, just not in the way Trump hoped – but lawmakers who defy the president usually don’t last very long in their current roles. Just look at Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): All three criticized Trump, and all three were defeated in this year’s primaries by Trump-backed opponents. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appeared mindful of Trump’s powerful role in Republican politics, writing on X, “President Trump needs a Republican Congress to continue pursuing conservative policies that make our nation stronger. I am confident that one day South Carolina’s congressional delegation will be completely Republican. I am disappointed that day has not yet come.”

The GOP’s setbacks are minimal in the broader gerrymandering grudge match that kicked off in Texas last year. Republicans have already lined up favorable maps in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, giving them an edge in over a dozen districts in 2026. Democrats, on the other hand, have only secured an advantage in six districts for this year’s midterms. Still, those numbers are likely to change as legal battles play out in the redistricting war that is far from over.