Following Brett Kavanaugh’s powerful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Democrats opposing him from their not-so-comfortable red state seats are beginning to feel the heat. One poll shows Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri now behind her GOP opponent in a tight midterm race.
According to The Federalist, the new poll by Remington Research Group “found that of the 1,555 likely Missouri voters surveyed late last week, 48% said they were planning to vote for Republican candidate Josh Hawley while 46% said they planned to vote for McCaskill.”
Even worse for McCaskill is that her opposition to Brett Kavanaugh served as one of the deciding factors for voters to come out against her, with 49% saying it affected their decision. Only 42% said McCaskill’s opposition to Kavanaugh motivated their support.
“The incumbent Democrat is in a hotly contested race, and support for Hawley has been surging in the polls over the past month,” reports The Federalist. “The Real Clear Politics poll average puts Hawley ahead of McCaskill by one point and shows that the race has grown increasingly competitive going into November.”
McCaskill joins several other red state Democrats who face tough reelection campaigns in the midst of the Kavanaugh circus. Some, like Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Jon Tester of Montana, have elected to roll the dice by proposing a “No” vote. Others, like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, where Kavanaugh’ enjoys 59% approval, have elected to remain on the fence until the final vote on the Senate floor.
Should Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer force all hot seat senators into voting “No” on Kavanaugh, he could very well run the risk of losing not just one but several Senate seats, sealing the Republican majority.
Whatever Schumer chooses, the polls are tightening in several red states, and whether he likes it or not, the vote on Kavanaugh could become a major rallying cry for the GOP opponents who will castigate their Democratic counterparts for serving the interests of liberal elites rather than serving their constituents.