Rep. Kambrell Garvin

Today, I took the Oath of Office on a bible that belonged to my sharecropper great-grandparents, administered by the second African American to serve in the SC Senate since Reconstruction and became the second youngest legislator of the 170 member SC General Assembly. Grateful.

“We are the most heavily gerrymandered republican state in the Country currently” - Senate Majority Leader of South Carolina I agree and that’s why we shouldn’t further gerrymander… #scpol

Q: Voters are confused about the changing maps, and some African Americans are concerned this will draw Black members of Congress off the map. What do you say? Trump: I think it's been a wonderful process. It looks like we're gonna pick up a lot of seats

🚨SC Redistricting Alert🚨 Following adjournment of this morning’s Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, members of the public peacefully demonstrated. Despite near-unanimous public objection to MAGA Republican redistricting efforts, the committee advanced the bill 3–2.

South Carolina, where the first shot of the civil war was fired, where 40 percent of those enslaved came through the Charleston port, is today engaged in an ugly recidivism to draw maps that will deny a Black person the chance to serve in Congress. The stakes could not be higher. Our political fight is not on a playground, but a moral battleground. We must stand for Black representation across the South.

@MaayanSchechter @MaryGreenNews Congrats!!

Because South Carolina's legislative session wasn't getting more interesting, in a bit of a surprise to my week before sine die, I became a mom to a very cute baby boy. I'll be taking some much needed time off. Follow SCETV + my Statehouse reporter list: x.com/i/lists/174513…

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@collins_neal While I may not always great with your perspective, I appreciate the thoughtfulness. I can assure you that a majority of the folks in my district (Blythewood/NE Richland) are opposed to our county being split 3-ways and included in the same district as Pickens 100+ miles away.

Thank y’all for your patience over the past 72 hours. Many have contacted me. I’ve asked for time before giving my opinion. Many were gracious. I’ve tried to build a reputation for being transparent & thorough on major issues. Until last Tuesday, I did not know mid-decade redistricting was even on the table, much less something that must be decided within days. Yet, by Friday, I was already publicly called a Nazi before I even knew where I stood on the issue. Modern politics leaves very little time for reflection & deliberation. As a friend recently told me, “When politics and policy collide, politics usually wins.” So let me recap my past 100 hours: Mid-decade redistricting was not on my radar until our caucus lunch on Tuesday. It was a brief, 15 minute discussion before we had to return to the House floor. The Louisiana v. Callais decision, combined with President Trump’s involvement in Republican Senate primaries in Indiana, dramatically changed the legal & political landscape. I voted Wednesday to amend sine die so the legislature could address redistricting after session, but I did not sponsor the map bill Thursday because there was no time to study it. Because I was focused on legislation through Thursday, I was not able to begin my own research into the issue until Friday morning. Friday morning, I woke up at 4:45am & read the 92-page Callais decision. Since then, I’ve spent roughly 37 hours in my office, of which 15 hours has been spent on the phone with constituents, attorneys, & legislators trying to understand both the legal issues & the practical realities. This is not an ideal process. But a vote on a map could come as early as this week. So where am I leaning? First, I generally agree with the Callais decision. Intentional use of race should not be the predominant factor in drawing political lines. The Court made clear that partisan considerations, communities of interest, incumbent protection, & compactness are legitimate factors in mapmaking. To friends arguing this should all be turned over to an “independent commission,” I would simply say those commissions often become partisan battlegrounds themselves. We should all be honest that political lines have always involved politics & likely always will. That said, I also think the dissent in Callais did an excellent job explaining the history behind the Voting Rights Act & the protections afforded to black Americans. I encourage people to read that portion of the opinion. The harder question is not whether South Carolina can redraw lines under Callais. It’s whether we should do it now, on this timeline. There are real concerns: - Military ballots have already been issued. - Taxpayer dollars have already been spent. - Campaigns have spent millions preparing for the June primary. - The Election Commission testified it will cost the state $2.5 million to delay federal primaries, with additional unknown costs to counties. - And redrawing congressional districts in just a few weeks will be extremely difficult. At the same time, there are legal & political realities. If the current maps were drawn under standards the Court has now rejected, there is an argument that if we have elections under those lines, they will be subject to court challenge. There also appears to be broad agreement that many Democratic voters have been packed into certain congressional & state House districts over time. That tends to create more polarized districts in BOTH parties. I raised similar concerns during redistricting discussions in 2021. So yes, I believe redistricting is warranted. Now, specifically regarding the Trump Administration map: from a Pickens County perspective, I’m not a fan. It splits Easley & Pickens County in half. I will work to keep Easley & Pickens County as whole as possible. For clarity, that map can be changed. It likely won’t have major changes but it can be amended. More at CollinsforSC.com

Residents of Memphis—with a Black population of 63%; a long, cruel history of struggle for racial justice; and where MLK delivered his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” and was assassinated the next day—are now deprived of the opportunity to elect candidates of choice.

If Black voters and Black voices aren’t considered meaningful enough to fairly represent the South, then maybe we should reconsider representing the South on the football field and basketball court too. .@SEC , don’t stay silent in the face of Jim Crow 2.0. Because once you open Pandora’s box, all kinds of things come out of it. Or maybe it’s just time for our children and these young brothers and sisters to find new playing fields that actually respect their humanity, their voices, and their value. @GavinNewsom @GovPritzker @SpanbergerForVA @iamwesmoore @JoshShapiroPA @GovWhitmer I’m sure y’all can find some scholarship $ for these talented young folks right?!

@TheTexasBoomer TEXAS.

@Kambrell VIRGINIA.

South Carolina’s newly proposed congressional maps weaken the voices of African American voters and divide communities for political gain.

The maps split Richland County into four different districts and now place Blythewood and Pickens County — communities with vastly different interests and regions — into the same district. This is not fair representation; it is political manipulation. Shameful.

🔥@staceyabrams: "The South is where over half of Black people live— You’re silencing citizens and telling them their voices don’t matter… We would never say ranchers can only be represented by vegans." (H/T @fairfightaction) @MarshaBlackburn @GovBillLee @SenJohnson @CSexton25

As furious redistricting battles continue, we reveal Republican plan to add 14 seats following last week's Supreme Court ruling trib.al/Q6omMMI

A third of the Congressional Black Caucus. That is Ari Berman's projection of the potential cost of the Callais ruling - and Berman has covered VRA litigation longer than most people in this conversation. His expectation: every southern state redraws its districts. The Alito ruling makes the legal path to do it without triggering a Section 2 challenge dramatically clearer. The historical parallel Pema Levy draws is specific. From 1865 to 1965, redistricting was one of the primary tools used to eliminate Black political power without mentioning race explicitly. Section 2 was the federal answer to that century of race-neutral disenfranchisement. Callais reopened the toolbox. The CBC currently has 58 members. A third is roughly 19 seats. Those are real people, real districts, real constituents who elected them. If Berman's projection holds, Black voters in the South will have less congressional representation after the 2026 midterms than they had before the maps ordered under earlier VRA enforcement were drawn. That is what this ruling costs. Attach a number to it.

Spirit Airlines says in court papers that it was forced to ground its fleet for good over the weekend because "recent geopolitical events resulted in a massive and sustained increase in fuel prices." nbcnews.com/business/trave…

I am so proud of these charts. I am proud of the Governor, Governor’s staff, the Senate, the House, and the public. A decade of investing in public education. That’s nearly a million young people - a whole generation - where recruiting & retaining teachers were priorities. Minimum starting teacher pay was $29,523 when I entered office. This year, minimum starting teacher pay will reach $50,000 - nearly a 70% increase. (I use starting teacher pay instead of the whole schedule because it’s easier to explain.) With over 50,000 teachers in our state, the $20,000 increase is a $1 billion investment EACH year. Praise! Of course, as with everything in government, it’s still not where it should be, but I am proud of the decade of prioritizing teachers. (No part of this post - graphics or wording - was AI generated or edited.)

Not our first rodeo with a Supreme Court determined to strip away the rights of black people: Dred Scott v Sanford, Plessy v Ferguson, Louisiana v Callais. This, too, shall pass.

“We’ll defend and honor… Love and cherish thee”

But he never has done anything to address this: thestate.com/news/politics-…