Supreme Court Backs GOP’s South Carolina Congressional Map (1)

The US Supreme Court upheld a Republican-drawn congressional map in South Carolina, rejecting claims of racial gerrymandering and boosting the GOP in the fight to control the House for the rest of the decade.

Voting 6-3 along ideological lines, the justices overturned a lower court’s finding that lawmakers unconstitutionally relied on race when they drew what is now a Republican-held district. The high court majority said the challengers hadn’t shown that race was the driving factor, rather than permissible partisan considerations.

Although the Republican-drawn districts were already set to be used this year’s elections, the ruling all but ensures they ...