Poll: Jackson's support tied for highest of any recent nominee

Initial public support for judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court ties as the highest Gallup has measured for any recent nominee. Fifty-eight percent of Americans say the Senate should vote in favor of Jackson serving on the Supreme Court. Only current Chief Justice John Roberts, at 59% in 2005, had a level of support on par with that for Jackson. Most other nominees had support in the low 50% range, with five below that mark…

For the 12 nominees measured prior to this year, an average of 48% of Americans expressed support for them, with 29% opposed and 23% not having an opinion. Jackson’s support is thus 10 percentage points above the historical norm, while the percentage without an opinion is 11 points lower. Opposition to her nomination is similar to the average.

Some recent nominees had narrow margins in favor of their being seated on the Court. This includes Amy Coney Barrett (51% to 46% in 2020) and Brett Kavanaugh (41% to 37% in 2020) — the last two of Donald Trump’s three nominees — and Robert Bork (31% to 25% in 1987), a Ronald Regan nominee whose nomination was ultimately rejected by the Senate. The Kavanaugh measure was taken before allegations of sexual harassment were made against him.