Congratulations - it's a District!
Governor Haley, joined by over 100 Pee Dee residents and GOP activists, signed the recently-passed Congressional redistricting plan into law at a bill-signing event in Myrtle Beach today.
During the bill-signing event, Haley congratulated the activists for "making their voices heard" and discussed a number of appearances at the State House where those lobbying for the Seventh to go to the Pee Dee region, wearing their "Pee Dee Wants the 7th District" t-shirts, turned the State House into a "sea of red".This represented the end of the long legislative battle over the final location of the state's new Seventh District. Various plans competed to place the district in one of two locations: the Pee Dee and Grand Strand region or the Lowcountry based in Beaufort, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties.
A heavy grass-roots campaign largely powered and funded by Florence County Republicans, with assistance from the Horry County GOP, played a key role in keeping legislative support for the proposed Seventh District, which largely follows the historic footprint of the Pee Dee regional Congressional District which had existed for most of the 19th and 20th centuries.
A compromise Congressional plan passed both the House and Senate on Tuesday of last week on a largely party-line vote with Republicans in both chambers providing most of the votes in favor of the plan and Democratic legislators split between supporting and opposing the legislation.
The plan now goes to either the Justice Department or Washington D.C. Federal District Court who will review the plan in order to ensure that it complies with standards established under the Voting Rights Act. Given the history of Congressional redistricting, which has gone to court the last three times maps were drawn, many observers expect the maps will also be the subject of a yet-unfiled lawsuit.
While the Congressional plan may face a few remaining hurdles, today was definitely a day to celebrate for the Pee Dee and Grand Strand GOP activists who led efforts to restore the region's historic Congressional district.
A heavy grass-roots campaign largely powered and funded by Florence County Republicans, with assistance from the Horry County GOP, played a key role in keeping legislative support for the proposed Seventh District, which largely follows the historic footprint of the Pee Dee regional Congressional District which had existed for most of the 19th and 20th centuries.A compromise Congressional plan passed both the House and Senate on Tuesday of last week on a largely party-line vote with Republicans in both chambers providing most of the votes in favor of the plan and Democratic legislators split between supporting and opposing the legislation.
The plan now goes to either the Justice Department or Washington D.C. Federal District Court who will review the plan in order to ensure that it complies with standards established under the Voting Rights Act. Given the history of Congressional redistricting, which has gone to court the last three times maps were drawn, many observers expect the maps will also be the subject of a yet-unfiled lawsuit.
While the Congressional plan may face a few remaining hurdles, today was definitely a day to celebrate for the Pee Dee and Grand Strand GOP activists who led efforts to restore the region's historic Congressional district.
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