The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has raised the stakes in the struggle for control of the U.S. Senate, forcing embattled Republican incumbents to choose between trying to appeal to moderate voters or hoping to fire up a conservative base.
Protesters gather to oppose US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan to immediately vote on a replacement of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, outside his home, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. September 19, 2020. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston
With the court vacancy coming so near the Nov. 3 presidential and congressional elections, Democrats argue that the voters should weigh in before Trump and McConnell rush to fill the seat -- the very argument McConnell employed in 2016 to block a nominee of President Barack Obama’s. Now, multiple incumbent Republican senators face the choice of backing Trump’s eventual court nominee and potentially losing some moderate voters, or rejecting that person and angering the conservative base.
“This is an enormous political conundrum,” said Paul Sracic, a political science professor at Youngstown State University in Ohio. “You’re going to lose someone in this,” referring to segments of senators’ home-state voters.Adding to the pressure will be independent-leaning Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, neither a vocal Trump backer. If that pair voted against a Trump pick, McConnell would be left with a one-vote margin.
“There is a clear choice on the future of the Supreme Court between the well-qualified and conservative jurist President Trump will nominate and I will support, and the liberal activist Joe Biden will nominate,” North Carolina’s Thom Tillis said in a statement.
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