Rep. James Clyburn Announces Reelection Bid as South Carolina Debates New Congressional Map

South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn said he is running for reelection irrespective of what the makeup of the district might be. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on May 10, 2026, Clyburn stated he believes he has a record that is very acceptable to the South Carolina voter.

Clyburn represents South Carolina’s 6th District in the southeast portion of the state. A draft South Carolina congressional map would move the 6th District to the north and transfer much of Clyburn’s current constituency into the 2nd District. His current district is about 45 percent African American.

“Now I have a district that’s about 45% African American. I have no idea what the number will be after the Legislature finishes, but whatever that number is, I will be running,” Clyburn said. The congressman, first elected to the House in 1992, has served South Carolina for more than three decades.

He is the only Democrat representing South Carolina on Capitol Hill, where the state’s two senators and six other House members are all Republican. Clyburn expressed confidence that voters will have the last word. “The voters will have the last word on this, and I don’t know why people think I cannot get reelected if they redistrict South Carolina,” he said.

He added that most voters can distinguish genuine service from opportunism. “Most voters can tell the difference between a true public servant and someone who may be in it for the next social hit,” Clyburn stated. Clyburn predicted that redistricting could create opportunities for additional Democrats.

“Be very careful what you pray for, because what I do believe is that when they finish with the redistricting, there will be the possibilities of at least three Democrats getting elected here in South Carolina to the United Congress,” he said. The redistricting effort follows a Supreme Court ruling that the Voting Rights Act cannot be used to force states to add more minority districts unless there is clear evidence of racial discrimination.

Clyburn credits the Voting Rights Act with helping him and other Black lawmakers win election after states redrew maps to account for large minority populations.

Clyburn recently published a book about the eight Black members of Congress who served nearly a century before him. “There are 95 years between number eight in my book, and yours truly, number nine,” he said. He likened current redistricting and efforts to tighten voting laws to Jim Crow-era measures designed to disenfranchise Black voters.

That gap of 95 years between the eighth and ninth Black members of Congress did not happen organically, Clyburn said, but because Congress and the Supreme Court changed the rules. com reported that Clyburn made his comments during the Sunday appearance on CNN while a new congressional map remains under debate by the Republican-controlled state legislature.