Drake University professor Rachel Paine Caufield says the make-up of the courts could become a motivating issue for a different set of voters in the future. U.S. courts have been a focus of Caufield’s research.
“For most of the modern era, Republicans have really been motivated by considerations of the Supreme Court and that largely came out of the Warren Court era, perceptions of a very liberal Supreme Court,” Caufield says, “and so Republicans saw a need to respond.”
Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, leading to a six-vote majority of conservative justices on the nation’s highest court, may lead to a
“different storyline” for decades to come, according to Caufield.
“Liberals who feel disadvantaged now in the Supreme Court I think are becoming more and more motivated by the court,” she says. “and the courts more generally as a consideration in their voting decision.”
Caufield says there’ll be plenty of voting data after November 3 to sift through to determine how Barrett’s nomination mobilized each set of voters. Caufield made her comments this weekend during an appearance on Iowa PBS. Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday. Both of Iowa’s Republican senators serve on the panel.