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by WILL FOLKS
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Last week, the South Carolina Senate approved U.S. president Donald Trump‘s preferred congressional maps – securing what appeared to be a decisive political victory for the White House.
This week, though, the GOP-controlled chamber did an about-face on its prior vote – refusing to cast a typically ceremonial tally that would have sent Trump’s proposed maps to the desk of governor Henry McMaster, an erstwhile redistricting opponent who belatedly got on board with the White House’s push.
Concerned about being unable to move legislation during the second half of his second term – and fretting likely impeachment proceedings launched by a potential Democrat majority – Trump has been pressuring red states to redraw their political boundaries, hoping to boost GOP representation in the U.S. congress.
Members of the S.C. Freedom Caucus have been asking lawmakers since last fall to redraw the congressional maps, but they were repeatedly stonewalled by uni-party leaders – with McMaster and others publicly defying Trump on the issue for months.
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After Trump made redistricting a priority in early May, McMaster eventually relented and called a special session of the legislature for the expressed purpose of adopting the White House’s proposed maps.
According to our sources in the Senate, though, McMaster’s timing was off… way off.
“I don’t know if he was trying to negotiate concessions for his involvement or deliberately delaying the process,” one senator told us privately, “but whatever caused him to wait, he waited too long.”
“Henry never pushed for it,” another senator familiar with the inner workings of the debate told FITSNews. “First he was against it – publicly against it – then he became a reluctant warrior for it.”
“It was way too little, far too late,” the senator added.
Had McMaster leaned on senators – had he made redistricting a priority, in other words – we’re told the chamber “probably could have gotten to this with enough runway to do it.”
Instead, a core group of five Republican senators who defied Trump on several initial, procedural votes ballooned into a phalanx of fourteen Republican senators (including several staunch MAGA-philes who had been with the White House from the very beginning).
What happened?
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???? As of 4:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (5/27/2026), another 30,000 South Carolinians have voted early ahead of the June 9, 2026 primary per @SCVotes. Counting yesterday's record setting turnout, that's nearly 87,000 early votes… in TWO DAYS. pic.twitter.com/yWnlFhSOva
— FITSNews (@fitsnews) May 27, 2026
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The easiest, most convenient explanation for the shifting sands was the record-setting surge which accompanied the opening of early voting in South Carolina – in which more than 56,000 voters went to the polls. This massive turnout appears to have swayed multiple senators who were already reluctant to stick their necks out for Trump on this issue – which was certain to invite a judicial rebuke.
The early voting surge – which included an estimated 46,000 Democrat ballots – helped cement the legal case against redrawing political boundaries in the middle of an election. With so many ballots banked, state courts would be far less inclined to move forward with redrawn maps.
In fact, Democrat lawmakers publicly hailed this elevated turnout as the decisive factor in flipping the Senate vote against Trump.
According to our sources, though, other factors were at play…
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RELATED | S.C. SENATE KILLS REDISTRICTING
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In addition to McMaster’s office failing to keep the White House apprised of the vote count in the Senate – an omission that we’re told seriously irked Trump – the governor reportedly made a fatal miscalculation in dealing with leaders in the chamber.
“There was a threat from the governor’s office Monday night to veto all earmarks if we didn’t pass the redistricting bill,” a source close to the negotiations confirmed.
Earmarks are controversial spending items inserted into state budgets with limited oversight or debate – usually as a way for legislative leaders to secure the loyalty of individual lawmakers.
McMaster’s threat to cut these appropriations rubbed senators the wrong way – resulting in powerful Senate finance committee chairman Harvey Peeler flipping his vote against Trump’s redistricting plan, according to our sources. Several Republicans went with Peeler when he flipped, too.
“That was the death knell,” our source said.
Fearing the fallout from this epic failure would splash back on the gubernatorial aspirations of McMaster’s chosen successor, lieutenant governor Pamela Evette, a false narrative was spread in which the blame for the fiasco was to be placed on Senate supporters of attorney general Alan Wilson, Evette’s top rival in the 2026 GOP primary.
Needless to say, that dog – per the local parlance – did not hunt.
We’re continuing to speak with our network of sources to get a fuller picture of how Trump allies snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the S.C. Senate this week, but its clear the governor’s involvement (or lack thereof) was a definitional debacle. That’s especially curious considering this was the one time the White House – which has showered McMaster with favors for the better part of a decade – actually needed him to stand and deliver.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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