Jim Clyburn talks midterms, redistricting and retirement in interview with The Post and Courier By Alex Streinger 4 hrs ago CHARLESTON - Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s longest-serving current member of Congress, is vying for his 18th consecutive term in November’s midterm elections.
After winning the Democratic primary in a landslide, Clyburn will face Republican newcomer John Peterson in the Nov. 3 general election for the state’s 6th Congressional District seat.
In an Oct. 15 interview with The Post and Courier, Clyburn revealed what keeps him going after already serving more than three decades in office.
“The voting public in the 6th Congressional District,” Clyburn said. “They have made it clear to me that they prefer me on this road, rather than hanging out on the golf course.”
Clyburn’s bid for an 18th term comes months after President Donald Trump’s administration attempted to eliminate his seat by urging state lawmakers to redraw congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
That effort failed when, in May, the South Carolina Senate blocked a redistricting bill backed by Gov. Henry McMaster, with 12 Republicans joining all 12 Democrats in a key procedural vote.
Clyburn — the state’s only Democratic congressperson and its only Black U.S. representative — believes the redistricting attempt in the state will continue as long as the current administration is in charge.
South Carolina’s 6th is a majority-minority district, with a Black plurality. It covers parts of Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Jasper, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties, along with all of Allendale, Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Hampton and Williamsburg counties.
“I grew up, under belief, that South Carolina, like the rest of the United States of America, was an imperfect state, just like we are an imperfect nation,” Clyburn said. “And the Preamble to our Constitution says we are in search of a more perfect union. Now, South Carolina, itself, has been on the glide path, I had hoped, toward a more perfect state. We had our issues in the 60s and the 70s, we came out of it integrating our lunch counters and integrating our schools and getting rid of all of those things that made for imperfection.”
Clyburn said the Republican Party under Trump is “attempting to turn the clock back” as evidenced by redistricting efforts in several Southern states ahead of the 2026 midterms, including South Carolina.
“They’ve attempted to racialize things that would, in fact, restore the imperfect, and even the viciousness of what I thought were days gone by,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn added that he was insulted by the White House’s push to eliminate his seat, the Supreme Court “saying it is OK to be discriminatory” — referencing its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a Louisiana congressional map that had created a second majority-Black district — and McMaster’s support for the redistricting bill.
Tied as the 15th longest-serving current U.S. representative, Clyburn predicts Republicans’ redistricting efforts will backfire, and that people across the country will be shocked by the midterm results.
Echoing broader public sentiment, Clyburn expressed confidence that Democrats will regain control of the House.
Clyburn also described South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race between Republican Darline Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews as a “toss-up,” along with the state’s 1st Congressional District race between Republican Jenny Honeycutt and Democrat Nancy Lacore for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace. Farther south, Clyburn said he believes Democrat David Jolly has a real chance of defeating Republican Byron Donalds in Florida’s gubernatorial race.
“People don’t want to be used like puppets, and that’s what they were doing,” Clyburn said. “They were puppet masters sitting up there telling these Southern states how to act, to carry out their ulterior motives. It should be insulting to every South Carolinian.”
Congressional redistricting typically takes place every 10 years following the U.S. census. The last cycle followed the 2020 U.S. census, meaning Republican lawmakers in South Carolina and elsewhere’s efforts to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms fall outside the traditional redistricting cycle.
As for his own race, Clyburn is an overwhelming favorite over Peterson, whom the veteran lawmaker said he has never met.
Peterson is a banquet supervisor for Embassy Suites at the North Charleston Convention Center. He told The Post and Courier Oct. 15 that he was inspired to run for office because of Trump.
“He just brought an energy to the party,” Peterson said. “I had always been an independent before President Trump came along. I voted for Ross Perot in 1992, so I always liked the idea of running the country like a business.”
Peterson’s campaign centers on supporting “the Trump agenda” and preventing Democrats from impeaching him. If he pulls off the upset, Peterson primarily plans to back the Department of Government Efficiency in uncovering fraud and cutting spending, he said.
On the other side of the aisle, in a statement on election night of the primary, Clyburn said, if reelected, he will focus on moving forward, not backwards.
“I promise to fight against the forces of retrogression, continue standing up for the values and interests that matter most to all South Carolinians, and continue our pursuit towards a more perfect Union,” the statement read.
Clyburn, who has considered retirement before, said he will continue to “give a lot of thought” to the prospect of stepping away after this election but said it is not time yet.
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