South Carolina state senator Dick Harpootlian has seen his credibility collapse over the last few months as he shills for disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh – the man at the heart of the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ true crime saga.
Now Harpootlian has another problem to contend with … a vanishing S.C. Senate district.
Well, Harpootlian’s district didn’t so much vanish as it took a two-hour drive to the southeast down Interstate 26 to Charleston, S.C. Or to be more precise, it will make that drive in a few short years if “Republican” lawmakers get their way during a contentious once-a-decade process known as redistricting.
Redistricting is the decennial redrawing of the state’s political boundaries based on updated data from the U.S. Census (ostensibly). As I noted earlier this year, “it is a process rife with corruption – as party leaders routinely cut deals aimed at safeguarding vulnerable incumbents and protecting party fiefdoms rather than preserving the ideal of community representation.”
According to a proposed redistricting map prepared by state lawmakers, Harpootlian’s current district – a heavily gerrymandered piece of real estate (.pdf) situated in and around the state capital of Columbia, S.C. – has been relocated to the Palmetto Lowcountry. Specifically, the proposed district would encompass the historic South of Broad region of downtown Charleston and the suburban West Ashley region of the state’s largest metropolitan area.
Again, assuming the GOP plan is approved.
Take a look …
(Click to view)
(Via: S.C. Senate)
The decision to erase the district represented by Harpootlian – a prominent Columbia, S.C. trial lawyer – does not come as a surprise. The 72-year-old attorney – who won a special election in 2018 and then captured a full, four-year term last fall – has already made it clear he would not be seeking another term in the Senate in 2024.
Also, Harpootlian has been a close ally of fiscally liberal S.C. Senate judiciary chairman Luke Rankin – the man most responsible for drawing the district lines of the new map.
There is no way Rankin would have made such a move without Harpootlian’s acquiescence …
Still, to be wiped from existence (politically speaking) has to be a humbling experience … although Harpootlian has certainly had no shortage of humbling experiences in his new job as lead attorney to a man at the heart of a so-called “Ozark situation.”
Anyway, to view the proposed S.C. Senate maps for yourself, click here.
And stay tuned for more stories in the days to come as we pore over this proposed map to see which senators benefited from the decennial redrawing process … and which ones got, well, “Dicked.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Via: FITSNews)
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children. And yes, in addition to having lots of kids he has LOTS of hats (including that classic “Block C” University of South Carolina lid pictured above).
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