What's happening with South Carolina's shifting U.S. House seats (update: trouble, gridlock)

The proposed new seats.

Update June 30: In a cunning maneuver, a group of Republicans and Democrats in the S.C. Senate managed to vote through a plan that would have the new 7th Congressional District made up of a hodgepodge of I-95 counties and anchored by Beaufort County.

(That's the plan shown in the second map from the June 21 update just below.)

But the war is far from done and the Senate and House must yet compromise. What's that mean? Expect something more similar to the House's original plan of a coastal district made of mostly Beaufort and Charleston counties.

We'll be sure to keep posted as this one heads back for debate in late July.

Update June 24: The debate has waged for a few more days and the Senate is still in a gridlock over how the new seventh congressional district should be formed.

(If you're not sure what the problem is, check out the June 21 update just below.)

And the Legislature is feeling the clock as next week will be its last chance to draw a plan before the U.S. Justice Department decides for the state.

I'll point you over to The State for the rundown on the latest in this woe.

Update June 21: While the plan for the S.C. House for the state's new seventh congressional district (pictured at the top) has seen large acceptance, the S.C. Senate's plans are ruffling more feathers.

You can see the two proposed plans to the right (click them for more detail) but, in a nutshell, while the House plan groups large geographic areas the Senate's two proposal carve more intricate jigsaw like chunks of the state — and those pieces often split historically cohesive areas, like Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach.

168 And that's not going over well and it sounds as  though the Senate will rework their ideas, and to guess, I'ld say to likely to better match watch the House has proposed.

For a rundown on the latest I'll point you to The State's report.

First reporting June 12: I know, I know -- redistricting is about as fun as counting beans.

But if you do understand the significance of how political representation lines are drawn (and Democrat vs. Republican "safe" seats are built), you'll want to take a read of Statehouse Report's solid overview of the picture emerging in South Carolina.

(In case you missed it, South Carolina's population growth is resulting in the addition of a 7th seat, and one that will shatter the formula for representation along the coast — and quite possibly freshman Representative Tim Scott's (R) chances for reelection.)

Take a read of the report on what's up and what the concerns are over here.

From the sounds of it, the deal's already been struck.

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