Spotlight on Gardner: Will the Republican senator support voting on Ginsburg’s replacement before the election?
After the death Friday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one big question faces Republican Sen. Cory Gardner: Does he believe the Senate should fill her vacancy before the next inauguration day?
Gardner’s office and his campaign did not respond to requests for comment on that question Friday evening. The Republican senator, who faces re- election in 45 days, did offer his condolences in a statement.
“It is with a solemn heart that I pray for the family of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” he said. “Thank you for your service to our country and our nation’s highest court. Our nation mourns the loss of a trailblazing leader.”
As one of the Senate’s possible swing votes, and because of statements he made four years ago about replacing justices in an election year, Gardner has been thrust into the spotlight anew by Ginsburg’s death.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” In February 2016, the week that the late Justice Antonin Scalia died, Gardner said, “I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”
On Nov. 3, Gardner will face John Hickenlooper, a Democratic former governor, in a race that could determine control of the U. S. Senate, the body that confirms justices. Hickenlooper’s spokesman did not respond to a question about whether the Senate should confirm Ginsburg’s replacement this year.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon, a trailblazer and one of the greatest people to ever grace our nation,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “Her death is a loss that will be felt for decades, and her life is one that will be celebrated for generations to come. Rest in power Justice Ginsburg.”
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet believes a new Supreme Court justice should not be confirmed by the Senate before the election or during a lame- duck session between November and January, a spokesperson said.
A couple hundred Ginsburg supporters gathered Friday evening for an impromptu vigil in Denver’s City Park. The mood was part sadness, part determination.
“It is upon all of us here to put every bit of ( expletive) pressure we can on Cory Gardner, to make sure he does not side with Mitch McConnell and violate their own ( expletive) rules,” Democratic Colorado House Speaker KC Becker said.
An 11- year- old girl named Dahlia Zimmerman- Voll cried in her mother’s arms. Wearing a Ginsburg shirt and holding a Ginsburg doll, she said the justice was her idol, and that in her honor, she is “definitely going to bring justice.”
Ginsburg’s death also spurred an outpouring of sentiment from Colorado politicians of both parties. Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, who clerked for Ginsburg in 1995 and 1996, said he last saw her in Washington in December.
“I was able to stop by and visit her, and she said to me, tongue in cheek, ‘ How’s my favorite general?’ I’m the only one of her clerks who was elected attorney general,” he said.
Weiser described himself as heartbroken over her loss.
“Justice Ginsburg is an inspiration. She is an extraordinary jurist. She’s a valuable mentor, and she’s a part of my life. It’s hard to believe she’s gone. … Our nation’s jurisprudence, commitment to equality and belief in the rule of law are better because she served and was a tremendous leader.”