WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: SCOTUS Vacancy A “Shot Of Adrenaline” That “Helps Democrats Far More Than The GOP”

AP: “Republicans… privately conceded Wednesday’s development may help Democrats.”

A wave of news coverage following the announcement of Justice Breyer’s retirement is highlighting how the Supreme Court vacancy will “influence the fight for the Senate majority” – providing a “shot of adrenaline” that will “reenergize” voters and “serve as a motivator” by “reminding Democrats of the importance of holding on to Senate control” in 2022. 

See for yourself:

Washington Post: President Biden has promised to nominate the first Black woman to the high court, a prospect his party hopes will excite his core supporters by delivering on a campaign promise, keeping the politics of abortion in the headlines and reminding Democrats of the importance of holding on to Senate control.

• “Watching the previous administration and Mitch McConnell stacking the courts with individuals who would overturn Roe v. Wade, that is not lost on Nevadans,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)… “People are going to be paying attention this year and next year. This is such an important, galvanizing issue in my state and across the country.”

• Democrats may have more to gain at this point than Republicans from a new fight over the courts.

• Democratic Senate incumbents in Nevada and New Hampshire… have already signaled that they plan to make the court’s abortion decision a signature issue for their campaigns.

• Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) focused on Breyer’s record on abortion in her response to his retirement.

• Adam Laxalt, a Republican Senate candidate in Nevada who is challenging Cortez Masto, recently reiterated his opposition to abortion.

CNN: Deliverance on a historic promise could resonate with Democratic voters, particularly in states like Georgia, a crucial Senate midterm battleground, where Black voters last year helped deliver the very Senate majority that will likely allow Democrats to confirm Biden’s pick this year.

• Cheri Beasley, the first Black woman to be North Carolina Supreme Court chief justice and a candidate for US Senate in 2022, said the opening “presents an opportunity for Biden to make good on his promise and nominate one of many talented, qualified African American women jurists.”
  
  
• “This vacancy reinforces the stakes of this year’s election and why we must defend and expand our Democratic Senate majority with the power to confirm Supreme Court justices,” Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair, said in a statement shortly after Breyer’s plans became public. “Protecting Roe v. Wade, coverage for pre-existing conditions, workers’ rights and so many other issues central to the lives of every American are all on the line.”

AP: Democratic incumbents from New Hampshire to Nevada seized on the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation debate, highlighting abortion rights in particular.

• Republicans… privately conceded Wednesday’s development may help Democrats.

• The development was most expected to influence the fight for the Senate majority, where Democrats have the slimmest possible majority.

• “The next justice must understand how their decisions impact the Nevadans I fight for every day, and that is especially true when it comes to women’s reproductive rights,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the Nevada Democrat who faces a… reelection test in a state where voters largely support abortion rights.

LA Times: Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s retirement provides President Biden and Democrats a golden opportunity to… reenergize Black and progressive voters ahead of the midterm.

Fox News: A Democratic strategist who works on Senate campaigns predicted that the nomination process will pump up fundraising and “will energize Democratic base voters and that’s one of the most important components of as successful midterm election for the party in power. And it will put issues that are favorable to Democrats front and center in the conversation in the Senate campaign races.”

• Democrats also predicted that the president’s pledge to fill Breyer’s seat with an African American female candidate will boost support among traditionally Democratic Black voters, which has wavered in recent months, delivering a win to Biden and his party.

The Hill: Even some Republicans concede that… a debate on a Supreme Court vacancy helps Democrats far more than the GOP.

ABC: Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement offers a rare and well-timed opportunity for Democrats to deliver on a critical promise and to remind their base that elections indeed have consequences.

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