Your SC politics briefing

Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.

And happy Black Friday folks.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and had a good meal with loved ones. If you were able to successfully avoid talking about politics at the dinner table last night, here’s a recap from the week’s South Carolina political news.

Speaking of the holiday shopping season:

In an effort to move goods more efficiently in the supply chain, Gov. Henry McMaster this week suspended some trucking regulations in the state, including allowing trucks on the road to weigh up to 90,000 pounds. The traditional weight limit is 80,000 pounds for trucks, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

McMaster’s executive order is in place indefinitely until he rescinds it.

McMaster made the move right before the holiday shopping season. McMaster was among the 15 Republican governors to sign a letter to President Joe Biden to suspend even more trucking regulations on the federal level including allowing drivers to be as young as 18, instead of 21 so more drivers could be on the road.

Congressional maps

The state Senate Judiciary Committee released its first draft of a congressional map. Newberry County, which is currently split between the Third and Fifth Districts would move entirely into the Third District into the Third District represented by Jeff Duncan.

Also mapmakers made adjustments to the Sixth District, represented by Jim Clyburn and the First District represented by Nancy Mace. The First District, which includes the Lowcountry and Charleston area, had grown by so much between 2010 and 2020 it needed to lose about 88,000 people.

The majority-Black Sixth District, would now include parts of West Ashley, about half of Johns Island and a segment of downtown Charleston that includes the College of Charleston under the proposal.

The First District would add Jamestown, Shulerville, Huger, Cordesville and Cainhoy, the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek and the southern tip of Jasper County to make the competitive district an even more reliably Republican district.

After the map was released, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of South Carolina criticized the proposed boundaries.

“This is a map that would make South Carolina’s voters obsolete in November,” the League, tweeted minutes after the Senate redistricting committee released its proposal.

Read more: The proposed state Senate redistricting plan leaves state Sen. Dick Harpootlian without Senate seat. He says that’s OK.

The race to succeed Leatherman

Less than a week after Hugh Leatherman’s funeral, we have the first candidate seeking to finish out the term in the 31st Senate District.

Florence businessman Mike Reichenbach, who owns three car dealerships, is seeking the GOP nomination. Reichenbach, who is Black, also is putting in $100,000 of his own money into his campaign.

In his introductory campaign video, whose birth mother was 14 and put him up for adoption, dropped some favorite Republican talking points, being a businessman, refusing to support defunding the police, and saying he is against abortion.

Now we’ll see if anyone else jumps into the race or are other candidates scared off by the $100,000 put in by Reichenbach.

Filing for the seat will take place between Dec. 3 and Dec. 11.

The primary is Jan. 25, and the general election is March 29.

Transgender women in sports bill is back

A pair of GOP lawmakers are trying again to pass a bill to ban transgender girls and women from women’s sports.

State Reps. Ashley Trantham, of Greenville, and Melissa Oremus, of Aiken, pre-filed the bill that would only allow children assigned female at birth to participate in women’s sports from the middle school to collegiate levels. Previous versions of the bill only addressed middle school and high school sports.

Those versions were killed this year in the House Judiciary Committee when other lawmakers called the proposals “a solution in search of a problem.” But the latest bill from Trantham and Oremus has been assigned to the House Education and Public Works Committee. We’ll see if it fairs better there.

A debate on a similar bill in the Senate also may take place next year.

Context: 2022 is an election year, with the entire House up. So, we’ll probably see several bills like this that could drum up support from a party’s base.

Buzz Bites

▪ William Fairfax, who previously worked for the South Carolina Democratic Party, has joined Vice President Kamala Harris’ press team.

▪ The League of Conservation Voters is running ads against Congresswoman Nancy Mace for her vote against the Build Back Better Act.

▪ Congressman Joe Wilson says the U.S. should to not recognize Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president if he stays in office beyond the end of his term in 2024.

▪ Fifteen state lawmakers signed onto to a letter that backs false claims about the 2020 elections and suggests the 2020 election results should be overturned and Democratic President Joe Biden ousted from office. None of the lawmakers are in leadership.

▪ Palmetto Promise President Ellen Weaver is in the race to succeed State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman.

▪ A group of 23 GOP lawmakers are sponsoring a bill to prevent universities from offering tenure to professors hired after 2022, and then eliminating the systems at schools after all tenured professors have left.

▪ USC Board members Toney Lister and Mack Whittle are not seeking re-election to their positions.

▪ Former state lawmaker, and current member of the Board of Economic Advisors, Alan Clemmons, is seeking a judicial opening.

▪ Congresswoman Nancy Mace spent her Thanksgiving week overseas visiting South Korea, Japan and Taiwan along with members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. The fact-finding trip included visits with military commanders in the Pacific and serving Thanksgiving meals to soldiers.

Mark your calendar

Nov. 29

Judicial Merit Selection Commission to vet judicial candidates, 9:30 a.m.

Nov. 30

Judicial Merit Selection Commission to vet judicial candidates, 9:30 a.m.

Equine Industry Support Measures Study Committee, 1 p.m.

Dec. 1

Judicial Merit Selection Commission to vet judicial candidates, 9:30 a.m.

SC House returns to debate redistricting maps, 2 p.m.

Dec. 2

SC House in session to debate redistricting maps

Dec. 6

SC House back in session, if necessary

SC Senate returns to session to take up redistricting maps

Before we adjourn

With Thanksgiving now behind us, we’re now in the season of holiday gatherings with friends and families.

But with gatherings means more opportunities for us to be close together, something the Department of Health and Environmental Control is worried will lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases again. Last week, South Carolina saw its first increase in COVID-19 infections after 10 weeks of declines.

Luckily this year we have availability of vaccines for anyone at least 5 years old and booster shots for people 18 and older. But we also still have the Delta variant hanging around.

So we can still enjoy the holidays together, we just have to be careful. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, socially distance and try to gather outside when possible. It isn’t as cold as the northern parts of the country.

Who pulled together this week’s newsletter?

This week it was Joseph Bustos, reporter on the The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with him on Twitter and send him tips on Twitter at @JoeBReporter or by email jbustos@thestate.com.

Make sure to sign up for our weekly politics newsletter that will come straight to your inbox every Friday morning. Tell your friends to do the same. For even more South Carolina-focused political news, you can chat with us on Facebook at the Buzz on South Carolina Politics, email us tips at thebuzz [at] thestate [dot] com and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.