Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia publicly announced on Friday that he will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court, just a day after Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that he will vote no for the historic nomination.

Senator Manchin, a moderate Democrat who hasn’t always been in lockstep with his party, has been consistent in voting along party lines with Senate Democrats on judicial nominations. 

Doug Jones, the Nominations Adviser for Legislative Affairs at the White House, and who has personally been advising Judge Jackson throughout her confirmation process, told theGrio that Senator Manchin’s statement of support “pretty much seals the deal for us, hopefully.” 

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Bidens nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, and former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., are seen in between meetings in Russell Building on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Still, he is hoping that the nation’s potential first Black woman Supreme Court justice can be confirmed with bipartisan support. 

“I think we’ll get all Democrats and we are still not stopping yet. We’re going to continue to work to try to get Republican votes because she deserves it.”

Jones, a former U.S. Senator in Alabama, said he and others will continue to hold meetings with Senators to sway votes in favor of Judge Jackson. He is not sure how many Republicans will be part of that number but he believes a few can be persuaded in favor of Jackson. 

A political, racial, and gender divide is playing a hand in the opposition from Republican members of the Senate. Jones, who has vast experience in Washington, said “In any other place in history Judge Jackson would likely be close to a unanimous vote, depending on some circumstances. But we live in a different world today.”

He noted, “there were votes that we knew that we were likely never to get. And quite frankly, Senator McConnell was one of them, despite what he said early on.”

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson talks to White House liaison former Senator Doug Jones (L) as her husband Patrick Jackson watches, as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 22, 2022 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ketanji Brown Jackson faced questions from Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee unrelated to her court decisions and her legal prowess, including issues on race and gender.

The full Senate vote on Jackson’s nomination is expected next month before the upper chamber is out for recess on April 11. Jackson only needs 50 votes from all Democratic members to become the next Supreme Court justice. If confirmed, she would be installed for the next session of the Supreme Court starting October 1.  

Jones did acknowledge that the confirmation vote could be a close one, resulting in a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris – a unique, yet historic moment in which the nation’s first Black woman vice president would cast the deciding vote for the first Black woman Supreme Court justice. 

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

“Certainly it’s possible,” said Jones, “but we’re hopeful that we will get Republican support and that the 51st vote from the vice president will not be necessary.”

He added, “I just believe that there are enough Senators in that body on both sides…they’re going to do an independent evaluation. They’re looking at this nomination very closely, and they will look at her and her record. And that’s what they’re going to base their final vote on. It won’t be the number of people that call in.”

In the midst of the confirmation process, the White House has been gauging public support for Judge Jackson. Polling from Pew Research indicates that 44% of the public says the Senate should definitely (24%) or probably (20%) confirm Jackson, while just 18% say she should not be confirmed. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) say they are unsure.

Three-in-ten Democrats say Jackson is more qualified for the Supreme Court than other recent nominees, including 39% of liberal Democrats and 23% of conservative and moderate Democrats.

By contrast, a third of Republicans say Jackson is less qualified than other recent candidates – a view held by 42% of conservative Republicans and 18% of moderate and liberal Republicans.

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