Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) announced on Thursday that she will vote no on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
“The process has been bad but at the end of the day you have to make a decision,” Heitkamp told WDAY News. “I will be voting no on Judge Kavanaugh.”
Heitkamp, one of the most vulnerable Democratic senators up for reelection this cycle, is trailing her Republican challenger, Representative Kevin Cramer, by a substantial margin, according to recent polls. Her decision to oppose Kavanaugh has the potential to broaden that divide, as a recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies found that 56 percent of North Dakota voters support the nominee’s confirmation.
The announcement came just hours after the FBI released to the White House and Senate a report detailing its investigation into the sexual-assault allegations levied against Kavanaugh. The report, which will not be made public, contained no new information regarding the allegations, according to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley.
Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) — now the lone Democrat who remains undecided on Kavanaugh’s confirmation — faces a political dynamic similar to the one confronted by Heitkamp: A majority of West Virginia voters (58 percent) support Kavanaugh’s confirmation, according to another Public Opinion Strategies poll.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a procedural vote for Friday morning, and the final vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation is expected to take place Saturday afternoon.