The red-state Democrats’ Kavanaugh crisis

Published October 6, 2018 4:00am ET



Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., stood alone. By the time the West Virginian announced he would support Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday, all the other incumbent red-state Democrats already said they were voting no.

This includes Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., both of whom share a couple of characteristics with Manchin: They are up for re-election this year in states President Trump won handily, and they voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch in 2017. Even one centrist Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, refused to vote for cloture.

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