Dem
47
GOP
53
Not everyone has gotten the memo that Democrats want generational change. In particular, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a legend if ever there were one, seems to have missed it. At his age, you miss a lot of things. He will be 86 in July and is running for an 18th term. He will be 88 at the end of it, if he makes it, and we don't mean "if he is elected"—which is a certainty.
Clyburn is a civil rights icon and power broker in South Carolina. He single-handedly saved Joe Biden's bacon in 2020. Without him, Biden wouldn't have gotten the Democratic nomination. His annual fish fry is an institution. Clyburn is a liberal on almost everything. Gay rights was not originally on his agenda but he eventually came around to accepting it.
He has held several leadership positions within the House Democratic caucus, usually the #3 slot. He gave up that position in 2023 to become an assistant to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). He gave up that position in 2024.
Clyburn is alert and competent, but Democrats are looking for new blood and that's not him. Before announcing another run, he consulted with his three daughters. They voted 2-1 for another run. So far there is no challenger and there might not be. In MS-02 last week, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who is 78, easily fended off a 34-year-old challenger. That could have been the signal that Clyburn could safely pull the trigger. The district, SC-06, covers parts of Columbia and Charleston and is D+13, so unless Clyburn gets a very strong challenger, he is likely to get his 18th term.
We said "likely" rather than definitely because there is a chance the Supreme Court will toss the Voting Rights Act into the paper shredder of history and allow the state legislature to divvy up his majority-minority district so a Republican can win it. However, the election cycle is well under way now, so our guess is that the Supremes will kill the VRA but with a proviso that the current districts are to remain for the Nov. 2026 elections and the gerrymandering to tear up all the Black districts in the South can't begin until next year. (V)