Potential New Majority-Black Congressional District in South Carolina

According to the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau, South Carolina is set to gain a new congressional seat in 2011. This means that a new majority African-American congressional district is in the cards.

The map below shows one possible configuration -- without getting into messy little details such as where incumbents live. The map is based on 2006 census tract population estimates (the latest we have available).

District 6 (yellow) has a 56% overall African-American population (about the same as the current District 6) and District 7 (light orange) is 53% African-American. We're cutting it close on the minority voting age percentage in District 7, but the district can be fine-tuned and probably strengthened when precinct-level data is released following the 2010 census

District 6 encompasses predominantly African American neighborhoods in Charleston and surrounding rural areas. The new upstate District 7 would combine parts of Columbia with the Greenville-Spartanburg area.


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There is no guarantee that South Carolina will get a new congressional seat when the actual count for the 2010 census is released. As explained in this post by the Swing State Project, it will all boil down to a few thousand persons. Community census advocates can use our Hard-to-Count Mapper or our Google Map overlays to help focus outreach efforts.