A new Marquette Law School poll found that almost half of respondents nationwide rate the choice of the next Supreme Court justice as "very important."
The poll, conducted across the U.S. from Sept. 8-15, found that 48 percent of respondents said the choice of the next justice was "very important" to them. About 34 percent of respondents said it was "somewhat important" and 17 percent said it was "not important or not at all important," according to the poll.
President Donald Trump said this week that he plans to announce his recommendation to the seat this Saturday. According to Republican leaders in the Senate, they believe they have the votes to nominate that as-of-yet unannounced candidate to the high court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leading liberal voice on the court, passed last Friday at the age of 87.
The Marquette poll found that 28 percent of respondents said that a majority of justices were definitely or probably appointed by Democratic presidents, while 72 percent say that a majority were definitely or probably appointed by Republican presidents.
Before Justice Ginsburg’s death, five of the nine justices had been appointed by Republican presidents.
The poll also found that among respondents who said the next appointment to the court is "very important to them," 21 percent said a majority were definitely or probably appointed by Democratic presidents while 78 percent said Republican presidents appointed the majority.
Read the full poll from the Marquette Law School here.
