Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Puts Pressure On Critical Senate Races
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg mere weeks before the 2020 elections is likely to intensify an already-pitched battle for control of the Senate, putting pressure on key Republicans up for reelection in November.
With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already promising to give President Donald Trump’s nominee a vote on the Senate floor, vulnerable Republican senators, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are almost certain to play a critical role in any nomination fight over a Ginsburg successor. Even races without a direct link to the nomination fight are certain to be reshaped by surges of partisanship and campaign cash.
Republicans have a 53-47 edge in the Senate and can confirm a new justice with only 50 votes. But the Senate GOP is defending incumbents in 10 states where national Democratic groups are spending millions on attack ads while only two Democratic incumbents are considered vulnerable.
Among the most vulnerable incumbents is Collins, whose vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh directly contributed to her declining popularity in the state. Collins, a moderate Republican who supports abortion rights but has voted for many of Trump’s conservative judicial nominees, is in a tough race with Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon.
A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday morning found a 55% majority of likely voters in Maine opposed Collins’s decision to support Kavanaugh’s nomination, while just 38% approved. The same survey found voters trusted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to make a Supreme Court pick more than Trump by a 59% to 37% margin.
Gideon led Collins by a 49% to 44% margin in the poll.
Collins told New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin earlier this month she opposed confirming a Supreme Court justice close to the election and would also oppose voting on one during a lame-duck session of Congress in November if there is a...
