Role: Governor of South Carolina (since January 2017)
Category: State Governors / Republican Governors

Summary

Henry McMaster is the longest-serving Republican governor who rose to the post without winning an election — he became governor in 2017 when Nikki Haley departed to become UN Ambassador. He has since been elected to full terms. In May 2026, McMaster called a special session of the South Carolina legislature to redistrict congressional maps following the Callais decision, specifically targeting Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) — the highest-ranking Black member of Congress and the House Majority Whip. The effort faced pushback even from some Republican state senators.

Background

Born: May 27, 1947, Columbia, South Carolina
Education: University of South Carolina (B.A., History; J.D.)
Career:

• U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina (1981–1985)
• South Carolina Attorney General (2003–2011)
• South Carolina Republican Party Chair (2013–2017)
• Lieutenant Governor (2015–2017)
• Governor (January 2017–present)

Elections: First became governor without election (Haley departure); won 2018 special election and full terms in 2018 and 2022.

Trump relationship: McMaster was one of Trump’s earliest gubernatorial endorsers in 2016 — making his endorsement before the South Carolina primary a notable early signal of Trump’s southern support.

Trump Alignment

Early Trump endorser (2016): McMaster endorsed Trump before the South Carolina Republican primary in 2016, providing important early political cover during a contested primary season.

Consistent alignment: McMaster has been a reliable Trump ally throughout both terms, implementing Trump’s agenda on immigration, education, and regulatory policy.

Redistricting coordination: McMaster’s May 2026 special session call is part of the broader Trump-coordinated mid-decade redistricting campaign.

Immigration Enforcement

State enforcement cooperation: South Carolina has maintained agreements with federal immigration authorities and has aligned with Trump administration enforcement priorities under McMaster’s leadership.

Legislative support: McMaster has supported South Carolina’s Republican legislature in enacting immigration restriction measures.

Redistricting

Special session announced May 14, 2026: ABC News 4/WACH reported that McMaster announced a special session to address redistricting “just days after several Republican state senators crossed party lines to reject a plan that would have likely cost Rep. Jim Clyburn his seat.”

Target: Rep. Jim Clyburn: The redistricting effort is specifically designed to eliminate or weaken Clyburn’s congressional district — the 6th District, which is a majority-Black district. Clyburn is one of the most prominent Black politicians in American history, having served as House Majority Whip and playing a decisive role in Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Republican intraparty conflict: The redistricting effort was not unanimous among Republicans — multiple Republican state senators crossed party lines to reject a plan targeting Clyburn, demonstrating that even within the GOP, the effort to eliminate a majority-Black district faced internal opposition. McMaster’s special session call came in response to that failure, escalating the pressure.

Post-Callais context: The Callais decision gave South Carolina the legal cover to pursue a redistricting that would not have been sustainable under prior Voting Rights Act protection.

TRC Relevance

Targeting Jim Clyburn: The specific targeting of Jim Clyburn — one of the most significant Black political figures in American history — through redistricting after the VRA’s protective scope was narrowed is a historically significant act of voter suppression. The full record of who called the special session, what maps were proposed, what Republican senators rejected, and what ultimately passed should be documented.

VRA erosion in practice: South Carolina’s redistricting effort illustrates how the Callais decision is being operationalized at the state level — removing majority-minority districts that were previously protected.

For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

McMaster called a special legislative session in May 2026 specifically to redistrict Rep. Jim Clyburn’s 6th Congressional District — South Carolina’s only Democratic seat and its only majority-Black congressional district. The special session came days after several Republican state senators crossed party lines to reject the redistricting plan, demonstrating that even within the GOP the effort faced internal opposition. McMaster was one of Trump’s earliest gubernatorial endorsers in 2016, providing important political cover during the contested South Carolina primary.

Here’s a question worth sitting with: Multiple Republican state senators voted against the redistricting plan targeting Clyburn’s district. Then the governor called a special session to try again. Those Republican senators were not opposing the plan on partisan grounds — they are Republicans in a Republican-controlled state. Their opposition came from within the majority party. When a governor calls a special session specifically to overcome resistance from members of his own party who objected to eliminating the state’s only majority-Black congressional district — what does that tell you about the urgency and priority being placed on this specific outcome, and why members of the governor’s own party found it worth crossing over to oppose?

A second question: Jim Clyburn is 85 years old and has represented the 6th District since 1993. This redistricting effort is partly about controlling who succeeds him — eliminating the district as a majority-minority seat before a successor can establish themselves. South Carolina’s Black community is 27% of the state’s population. If no congressional district in South Carolina is designed to give that 27% a realistic opportunity to elect their preferred representative — what does that tell you about whose interests the state’s congressional delegation is designed to serve?

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Investigative trail pointers (public records)

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Sources

• ABC News 4/WACH (special session announcement): https://abcnews4.com/news/lowcountry-and-state-politics/south-carolina-gov-henry-mcmaster-calls-special-session-on-redistricting-map-republican-congressional-district-may-2026
• NBC News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax8hx6i-nxc
• Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_ahead_of_the_2026_elections
• Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/place/current-US-governors-2237270