Support for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is the highest for any Supreme Court nominee in decades, according to a new Gallup poll.
The survey found that 58% of voters want to see the Senate confirm Jackson while most recent nominees have been in the low-50s or even the 40s.
Only Chief Justice John Roberts had higher support ahead of his confirmation, with 59% backing his Senate approval.
Jackson’s support is significantly higher than other liberals on the court had when they were approved, including Justices Sonia Sotomayor (54%) and Elena Kagan (46%).
It’s also above most conservatives on the court, including Justice Clarence Thomas (52%), Amy Coney Barrett (51%), Samuel Alito (50%), Neil Gorsuch (45%), and Brett Kavanaugh (41%).
The only recent nominee to have lower support than Kavanaugh was Robert Bork in 1987 before his nomination was ultimately pulled in favor of Anthony Kennedy.
Jackson outpaces past picks:
The 12 most recent nominees received about 48% support for their confirmation with 29% opposed and 23% expressing no opinion.
“Jackson's support is thus 10 percentage points above the historical norm, while the percentage without an opinion is 11 points lower,” according to Gallup. “Opposition to her nomination is similar to the average.”
Jackson is overwhelmingly supported by Democratic, 88% of whom support her confirmation while only 6% oppose.
But the poll shows a clear partisan gap with only 31% of Republicans backing her confirmation and 53% opposing.
Among independents, 55% back her ascent to the Supreme Court.
Will confirmation hearings affect Jackson?
Wednesday marked the third straight day of Jackson’s confirmation hearings, as Republicans with little ammunition sought to raise questions about her views on critical race theory and religion as well as her past rulings.
But Gallup found that in most confirmation proceedings, the rate of support “held steady” while the rate of opposition typically increased.
“Some, including Bork, Kavanagh and Barrett, had seen opposition meet or exceed support by the time the Senate voted on their confirmation,” according to Gallup. “If Jackson's confirmation process is free from the controversy that plagued those of Thomas and other nominees, she is likely to have the backing of the solid majority of Americans when the full Senate votes on her nomination.”
