Ketanji Brown Jackson Has Best Initial Approval Since John Roberts For a Supreme Court Pick

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Ketanji Brown Jackson tied with Supreme Court Justice John Roberts for the highest initial approval rating of any Supreme Court nominee in a new poll.

According to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday, 58 percent of respondents would vote in favor of Jackson’s nomination, which is second-highest to Roberts, who got 59 percent in that category when he was nominated in 2005.

Succeeding Jackson is Justice Sonia Sotomayor with a 54 percent approval rating, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with 53 percent and Merrick Garland with 52 percent. Garland, who was nominated in 2016 to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, did not receive a hearing nor a confirmation vote and went on to become Attorney General in 2021.

With nominees picked by former President Donald Trump: Neil Gorsuch, who was nominated and confirmed in 2017 to succeed Scalia, relieved 45 percent support; Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated and confirmed in 2018 to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, got 41 percent support and 37 percent opposition; and Amy Coney Barrett, who was nominated and confirmed in 2020 to succeed Ginsburg, received 51 percent support.

Additionally, 88 percent of Democrats support Jackson’s nomination, while 53 percent of Republicans do not and 55 percent of Independents would vote in favor of it.

Gallup also showed the partisan divide among Democratic and Republican Supreme Court nominees with Republicans both overwhelmingly supporting nominees from their own party and opposing Democratic nominees and Democrats both overwhelmingly supporting nominees from their own party and opposing Republican nominees.