Clyburn running for 17th term

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is running for a 17th term in the House, his political advisor Antjuan Seawright confirmed to The Hill.  

The news was first reported to the Post and Courier.

Clyburn, the assistant Democratic leader in the House, was first elected to the lower chamber in 1993 and has spent three decades representing South Carolina’s 6th congressional district.

Clyburn’s endorsement of President Biden ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary in 2020 was credited with helping Biden notch the presidential nomination after he lost the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

He filed paperwork with Vice President Harris in November to put Biden and Harris on the primary ballot in South Carolina and serves as a Biden-Harris 2024 campaign co-chair.  

Clyburn’s district went for Biden by 32 points in the 2020 election and includes the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg, in addition to parts of Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Florence, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter. 

ProPublica reported last May that Clyburn’s office negotiated with Republicans on the state’s congressional maps after the 2020 census, reporting that the final map bolstered Clyburn’s district while putting the state’s other six congressional districts out of reach for Democrats. 

His office denied the thrust of ProPublica’s report at the time, saying, “Any accusation that Congressman Clyburn in any way enabled or facilitated Republican gerrymandering that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred is fanciful.”