Reverberations from the bitter Capitol Hill showdown over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation are being felt in real time on the campaign trail in New Hampshire and across the country.
As the Senate Judiciary Committee was nearing a blockbuster vote Friday morning on President Donald Trump’s high court nominee, progressive demonstrators gathered outside the governor’s office at the State House in Concord to urge Republican Gov. Chris Sununu to drop his support of Kavanaugh and ask his GOP allies in Washington to call for an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against the nominee.
A day earlier, during the 9 hours of testimony by Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who’s accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her decades ago, Sununu described Ford’s allegations as “very serious” and said they should be “fully investigated” before any Senate confirmation vote.
That appears to be exactly what will happen. The Judiciary Committee sent Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate, with all 11 Republicans voting to advance the confirmation and all 10 Democrats on the panel opposed.
But Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a vocal critic of Trump who’s not running for re-election this year, said he would only support the nomination if there was a one-week delay in a full Senate vote to allow for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, lacking the votes needed to confirm Kavanaugh, agreed to a one week delay in any final vote.
This week’s highly-charged partisan battle over Kavanaugh comes with less than six weeks to go until November’s midterm elections, where Republicans are trying to hold on to the majorities on both houses of Congress. In New Hampshire, Democrats are hoping to hold both U.S. House seats, retake the governor’s office and both chambers of the state Legislature.
One of the Granite State’s top political scientists says what’s happening in Washington is resonating in New Hampshire.
“People have friends or family who’ve either been the victims of sexual assault or harassment or may have even been accused of that kind of behavior,” Southern New Hampshire University’s Dean Spiliotes said.
Social media amplifies the impact and immediacy, he said.
“It’s a very raw and emotional thing for everybody and technology brings you right into the middle of it, right around the clock at this point,” he said.
And Spiliotes said the partisanship isn’t just in Washington.
“People everywhere are heavily invested in this on one side or the other.”
If Kavanaugh is ultimately confirmed, energized Granite State Democrats could take it up another notch.
“Given their primary turnout, it’s hard to imagine that New Hampshire Democrats could get much more energized,” University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala said. “But Kavanaugh’s confirmation may do just that, especially for women with a college degree.”
But seeing Kavanaugh sitting on the Supreme Court in the weeks before the midterms could also provide a spark for some Republicans in New Hampshire.
“Traditionally in the off-year elections, the incumbent party has a hard time motivating its base. I’m sure it will motivate Trump supporters to vote,” said Steve Duprey, a longtime Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire and a former state GOP chairman.
The Kavanaugh controversy has become an issue in the state’s gubernatorial campaign between Sununu and former state senator Molly Kelly, the Democratic challenger. Since the allegations from Ford became public nearly two weeks ago, Kelly’s repeatedly called on Sununu to drop his support for Kavanaugh. Sununu joined some 30 other Republican governors this summer in backing the high court nomination of the federal appeals court judge.
“My instinct was to trust Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Chris Sununu’s instinct was to stand by Judge Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, and his party,” Kelly once again charged on Friday. “Now, Chris Sununu must immediately call for President Trump to withdraw Kavanaugh’s nomination.”
For Rep. Annie Kuster, the fight over Kavanaugh truly hits home. The three-term Democrat who represents the state’s 2nd District was sexually assaulted four decades ago.
On Thursday night and Friday morning, she joined other Democratic lawmakers in Congress in questioning Kavanaugh’s moral character.
“As a survivor of sexual assault at a fraternity party at an Ivy League college over 40 years ago, what I remember most distinctly was the humiliation, the shame and the fear that I felt running out into the dark, bitter cold night,” Kuster said, as she shared her experience with a national audience.
“I tell this story not because it’s remarkable or unique. Sadly, I tell this story because it is all too common. Let’s be clear – sexual assault perpetuates the gender hierarchy. Assailants have the luxury of forgetting, based upon their lack of respect and empathy for their prey. But survivors, we can never forget, however hard we may try over the years to bury those flashes of memories,” she said.