Majority missed
Trump suffers defeat – Republicans vote against him
May 13, 2026 – 7:41 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
By redrawing electoral districts, both Republicans and Democrats have tried to generate more votes for themselves in the past. That didn’t work for Trump.
An attempt to redraw South Carolina’s electoral districts and eliminate the state’s only Democratic congressional district failed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Several Republicans voted against the plan, defying President Donald Trump.
The vote is expected to mean influential Black Democrat Jim Clyburn will retain his seat in the November midterm elections. The Republican governor could call a special session on redistricting reform, but has so far refused to do so.
In Missouri, however, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a redistricting pushed through by Republicans that eliminated one of the two Democratic seats. The different decisions show that the nationwide dispute over electoral district boundaries continues – especially after the US Supreme Court’s ruling last month. This gives states more leeway in carving out Black or Latino-majority districts, which traditionally vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party. By redesigning the districts, or “gerrymandering” in English, the Republicans want to defend their narrow majority in the US House of Representatives in the November elections. Read more about this here.
Several Republican-run southern states are already taking advantage of the ruling. Tennessee adopted a new map that divides a district with majority Black voters. Louisiana and Alabama postponed their primaries to give Republican lawmakers time to draw up new district boundaries.
In South Carolina, the Senate fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority with a vote of 29 to 17. Trump urged senators on Monday to support the plan. He wrote on social media that he was watching the vote “closely.” In Missouri, the new apportionment is expected to result in Republicans winning all eight of the state’s congressional seats in November.
