South Carolina 1st Congressional District candidate Mac Deford is condemning a proposed redistricting plan backed by state Rep. Jordan Pace, calling it a partisan effort that undermines fair representation.
Deford, a Democrat and U.S. Coast Guard veteran, issued a statement Thursday saying the proposal is “a political weapon” designed to weaken the voting power of Black South Carolinians.
“South Carolinians deserve the truth about what this proposal really is,” Deford said. “It is not race-agnostic. It is not neutral. It is a political weapon created after conversations with the Trump White House. It targets a district that has historically ensured fair representation for Black voters.”
The plan, he argued, would dramatically reshape South Carolina’s congressional boundaries, including placing downtown Charleston in the same district as communities along the North Carolina border. Deford said such a configuration would ignore communities of interest and serve only “partisan ambition.”
He also defended longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose district would be significantly altered under the proposal.
“People can agree with him on some issues and disagree on others, but his record of service is not in question,” Deford said. “If voters ever decide they want a different representative, that decision belongs to them. It does not belong to politicians … trying to redraw the lines to predetermine the outcome.”
Deford characterized gerrymandering as “a cancer to the republic,” saying it allows lawmakers to manipulate electoral maps for political gain.
“In a healthy democracy, voters choose their representatives,” he said. “In a broken one, representatives choose their voters. South Carolina deserves to live in the first category, not the second.”
Deford, who announced his campaign earlier this year, said defending democratic institutions is central to his bid for Congress.
“I am running for Congress because our state deserves leaders who defend democracy rather than distort it for political gain,” he said.
Pace has not yet publicly responded to Deford’s comments.