Poll: Red-State Democrat Senators Could Pay Price for Opposing Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON, DC – Vulnerable Democrat senators in four states should be feeling the heat for not having announced their support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, as polling this week shows strong support for President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court.

The biggest standout is North Dakota, where voters support Kavanaugh by a margin of 60 to 22 percent, a staggering 38-point spread that should be giving Sen. Heidi Heitkamp sleepless nights, as the North Dakota candidate has not even met with Kavanaugh, to say nothing of expressing a willingness to vote for him.

Next is West Virginia, where voters support President Trump’d nominee by a margin of 55 to 30, a 25-point spread. This may explain why Sen. Joe Manchin has agreed to meet with Kavanaugh – one of only two Democrats to do so thus far – but has not committed to voting for his confirmation.

Third is Alabama, where voters favor Kavanaugh by a split of 54 to 30, a 24-point margin that almost ties West Virginia. Sen. Doug Jones is not up for reelection until 2020, but strategists believe he is already vulnerable in the deep-red state, and thus is a prime pickup opportunity for the next election cycle.

Fourth and finally is Indiana, where Kavanaugh leads the polls 52 to 34, an 18-point spread. Sen. Joe Donnelly is the only other senator to agree to meet with Kavanaugh, and announced he would do so shortly after his Republican challenger – businessman Mike Braun – sharply criticized Donnelly’s break with historical practice in joining the boycott on courtesy meetings.

The polling also shows that President Trump’s first Supreme Court pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch, is very popular in those states. Voters approve of the president’s choice of Gorsuch 59 to 26 in North Dakota, 54 to 33 in West Virginia, 53 to 34 in Alabama, and 52 to 35 in Indiana.

The poll was conducted with a sample of 500 eligible voters in North Dakota and 600 voters in the other three states.

The Supreme Court was the top issue for 21 percent of voters in the 2016 presidential election.

Ken Klukowski is senior legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.