Death of Ginsburg raises stakes in battle for Senate

WASHINGTON: The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has raised the stakes in the struggle for control of the U.S. Senate, forcing embattled Republican incumbents to choose between trying to appeal to moderate voters or hoping to fire up a conservative base.

President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would quickly nominate a successor to the liberal icon. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised a vote, giving the pair a chance to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court while their party holds both the White House and a 53-47 Senate majority. That would raise the chances of the court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, placing one of the most heated social and political battles in the United States front and center on the campaign trail.

With the court vacancy coming so near the Nov. 3 presidential and congressional elections, Democrats argue that the voters should weigh in before Trump and McConnell rush to fill the seat -- the very argument McConnell employed in 2016 to block a nominee of President Barack Obama's. "There are those people who have a hypocrisy meter and it just offends them," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, referring to Republicans' changing strategies. Polls show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading Trump ahead of the November election, and also give Democrats a chance of unseating enough Republican senators to capture a majority in that chamber.

Now, multiple incumbent Republican senators face the choice of backing Trump's eventual court nominee and potentially losing some moderate voters, or rejecting that person and angering the conservative base. About seven Republican incumbents and two Democrats face a chance of losing their seats in November's election, according to nonpartisan election trackers. Democrats would need a net gain of three seats for a majority if presidential nominee Joe Biden unseats Trump, meaning a Vice President Kamala Harris would be on hand to break 50-50 ties in the Senate.

"You're going to lose someone in this," referring to segments of senators' home-state voters. Collins and Gardner did not respond to requests for comment. Adding to the pressure will be independent-leaning Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, neither a vocal Trump backer. If that pair voted against a Trump pick, McConnell would be left with a one-vote margin.