Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation helped more than hurt the Democratic Party in last week's midterm elections.
"The bottom line is, you know, the Kavanaugh dispute, I think, helped us more than it hurt us," Schumer said. "It's one of the reasons we won the House so decisively. Suburban voters, traditionally Republican, came to our side. If the coalition -- the old Democratic coalition can add suburban voters to it and continue to focus on issues like health care, which matter to working class Americans throughout the country, we're going to win."
"I think the president lost more votes because of the Kavanaugh issue than gained throughout the country," Schumer added.
Schumer was responding to a question from "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper about whether the Democrats got "outplayed when it came to the Kavanaugh nomination."
Three Democrats from state's President Donald Trump won in 2016, and who voted against Kavanaugh's confirmation, lost in last week's midterm elections. Indiana's Joe Donnelly, Missouri's Claire McCaskill, and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp were defeated by Republican challengers. A fourth anti-Kavanaugh Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, is currently trailing Republican Gov. Rick Scott in Florida's Senate election, although votes are being recounted.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), the lone Democratic senator to support Kavanaugh's confirmation, defeated Republican attorney general Patrick Morrisey, despite the fact West Virginia voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016.
Democrats did perform well among suburban voters, with Fox News voter analysis showing 52 percent of suburban voters supported Democrats compared to 44 percent support for Republicans. Democrats did especially well among suburban women, 57 percent of whom voted for Democratic candidates versus 38 percent for Republicans.
Seventy-four percent of voters said the debate over Kavanaugh's confirmation was very or somewhat important to their vote. Voters were split about Kavanaugh's confirmation, with 43 percent supporting and 47 percent opposing it, according to CNN exit polls.