Republican Josh Hawley is looking to turn the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy into the marquee issue of his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri.
In the first advertisement of Hawley’s Senate campaign, to begin airing Monday on broadcast and cable television in Missouri’s largest media markets, the conservative state attorney general plays up his affiliation with Supreme Court as he challenges McCaskill to break with the liberals in the Democratic Party and vote to confirm President Trump’s forthcoming nominee.
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“The Supreme Court is a pivotal issue in this race. I know the importance of the court because I’ve worked there. I’ve litigated there,” Hawley said in a statement. “Missourians want a justice who will faithfully follow the law the people wrote. Claire McCaskill has endorsed activist liberals every time. She needs to finally make a break with [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.] and represent the people of Missouri.”
Trump is scheduled on Monday evening to unveil his pick to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, until now the swing vote on the nine-member high court. Trump’s nominee, expected to be a conservative in the same vein of his first Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Neil Gorsuch, could swing the bench decidedly to the right. Democrats are under immense pressure from their base to stand firm and oppose such a choice from the president.
The Democratic base isn’t giving any quarter to Democrats like McCaskill, incumbents running for re-election in red states that approve of Trump’s job performance. Although some of these red state Democrats could buck their party and back Trump’s nominee, McCaskill would appear unlikely to do so. She voted no last year on the confirmation of Gorsuch.
The race between McCaskill and Hawley has been close. But one warning sign for the senator: Her personal favorable ratings tend to trail her position in the horse race against the state attorney general.
Below the ad script from the Hawley campaign:
