Constituents of four red-state Democrats in the Senate want to see Judge Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court, according to a new poll.
The poll, administered by North Star Opinion Research on behalf of the Judicial Crisis Network, surveyed voters in Alabama, Indiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia, all states with incumbent Democratic senators which also voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Three of those Senators—Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), and Joe Manchin (W. Va.) are up for reelection in November.
According to North Star's poll, significant majorities of voters in all four states want to see Kavanaugh confirmed. In North Dakota, 60 percent of voters support confirmation while only 22 percent oppose it; West Virginia is 55 to 30, Alabama 54 to 30, and Indiana 52 to 34.
Support for Kavanaugh is even stronger among self-identified independents. 60 percent of independents support confirmation in North Dakota, versus 18 percent opposing; 59 support and 23 oppose in West Virginia; 54 to 30 in Alabama; and 48 to 34 in Indiana.
"Judge Kavanaugh is a fair and independent judge who bases his decisions on the Constitution, which is why President Trump nominated him and why a lopsided majority of voters in key states support his confirmation," Said Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director at the Judicial Crisis Network.
These results may put further pressure on red-state Democrats facing pressure from their Republican colleagues to back Kavanaugh. Heitkamp, Manchin, and Donnelly all voted for President Donald Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch; Sen. Doug Jones (Ala.) was not in the Senate at the time of the confirmation, but is likely dealing with similar lobbying from colleagues across the aisle.
"Red-state Democrats have a choice: stand with their constituents and support President Trump's extraordinarily qualified Supreme Court nominee, or stand with Chuck Schumer and be a rubber stamp for the extreme liberal special interests," Severino said.
The North Star poll also found that two thirds of voters in the pivotal states approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing, including with the addition of Gorsuch. The court has a 68 percent approval rating in North Dakota, 67 percent in Indiana, 63 percent in West Virginia, and 60 percent in Alabama.