Senate Democrats are launching an ad campaign in Black media markets blasting Republicans for opposing incoming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The ads aim to mobilize Black voters in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“If Senate Republicans had their way, Judge Jackson, an exceptionally qualified jurist and the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, wouldn’t have even been given a hearing,” said Freedom Alexander Murphy, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for the chamber’s Democrats.
Mr. Murphy added that GOP attacks on Judge Jackson “underscored the stakes of the 2022 election,” which he said paved the way for a strong turnout among Black voters for Democrats.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee accused Democrats of taking Black voters for granted.
“Democrats are hemorrhaging support from black voters across the country because they feel like the Democrat Party takes their vote for granted and/or has failed to live up to their promises. Many also feel like the party has just gone too far left and has increasingly become the party of white, woke, urban liberals,” Chris Hartline, NRSC spokesman, said.
Judge Jackson, 51, will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.
She was confirmed to the high court in a 53-47 Senate vote on Thursday. Three Republicans joined Democrats to support confirmation, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine.
Republicans who opposed Judge Jackson’s nomination accused her of being soft on child pornography offenders. Others said they disagreed with her judicial philosophy and her refusal to weigh in on expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court.
Her confirmation also fulfilled President Biden’s campaign promise to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court.
Judge Jackson will replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires at the end of the court’s current term in late June or early July.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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