Marquette Law School Supreme Court Poll September 8-15, 2020

These are partial results with other items held for later release.

(Percentages are rounded to whole numbers for reporting of results. Frequencies have been rounded to whole numbers but percentages are calculated based on non-integer weighted sample sizes.)

Results for survey items among all respondents are presented here (unless otherwise indicated). Please note that some questions are only asked of particular groups of respondents. In these instances, the row “NA’s” includes the number and percent of total respondents omitted from the question. These omitted cases are ignored when calculating the “Valid” and “Cumulative” percent columns.

Q15C: Fav/Unfav - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[Ruth Bader Ginsburg] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 266 17 17 17
Heard but not enough 296 19 19 37
Favorable opinion 675 44 44 81
Unfavorable opinion 282 19 19 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 5 0 0 100

Q15F: Fav/Unfav - Brett Kavanaugh

[Brett Kavanaugh] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 243 16 16 16
Heard but not enough 351 23 23 39
Favorable opinion 425 28 28 67
Unfavorable opinion 494 32 32 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 10 1 1 100

Q15G: Fav/Unfav - John Roberts

[John Roberts] For each of these names have you never heard of them, heard of them but don’t know enough to have an opinion of them, have a favorable opinion or have an unfavorable opinion?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Never heard of 471 31 31 31
Heard but not enough 410 27 27 58
Favorable opinion 434 28 28 86
Unfavorable opinion 191 13 13 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 17 1 1 100

Q24: importance of next justice

How important is the choice of the next Supreme Court justice to you personally?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Very important 728 48 48 48
Somewhat important 522 34 34 82
Not too important 201 13 13 95
Not at all important 68 4 4 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 3 0 0 100

Q25: vote based on justice’s beliefs

If a nominee for the US Supreme Court is qualified and has no ethical problems, would US Senators be justified or not justified in voting against that nominee simply because of how they believe the Justice would decide cases on issues such as abortion, gun control, or affirmative action?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Justified in voting against the nominee 622 41 41 41
Not justified in voting against the nominee 880 58 58 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 20 1 1 100

Q26: vote based on justice’s party

If a nominee for the US Supreme Court is qualified and has no ethical problems, would US Senators be justified or not justified in voting against that nominee simply because the Senator is from a different political party ...?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Justified in voting against the nominee 313 21 21 21
Not justified in voting against the nominee 1189 78 78 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 21 1 1 100

Q27: should nominees make beliefs public

Should nominees to the Supreme Court be required to publicly declare how they would vote on controversial cases such as gun rights or abortion rights before they are confirmed to the Court?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Should declare positions 772 51 51 51
Should not be required to declare positions 737 48 48 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 14 1 1 100

Q33: lack of hearings for Merrick Garland

In February 2016, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate... Was not holding a hearing on the nomination the right thing or the wrong thing to do?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Right thing to do 388 25 25 25
Wrong thing to do 1118 73 73 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 17 1 1 100

Q34: hypothetical 2020 vacancy

If there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court during the 2020 presidential election year and President Trump nominates someone what should the Senate do?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Hold hearings 1024 67 67 67
Not hold hearings 488 32 32 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 11 1 1 100

Q35A: favor/oppose - increase number of justices

[Increase the number of justices on the US Supreme Court] How much do you favor or oppose the following proposals affecting the Supreme Court?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Strongly favor 149 10 10 10
Favor 548 36 36 46
Oppose 592 39 39 85
Strongly oppose 216 14 14 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 18 1 1 100

D1: party ID

Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Republican 447 29 29 29
Democrat 548 36 36 65
Independent 384 25 25 91
Other/No preference 139 9 9 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 4 0 0 100

D2A: partisan strength (among partisans)

Would you call yourself a strong [Republican/Democrat] or a not very strong [Republican/Democrat]?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Strong 612 40 62 62
Not very strong 382 25 38 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 1 0 0 100
(Missing) 527 35 NA NA

D2B: partisan lean (among Independents)

Do you think of yourself as closer to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Republican 150 10 28 28
Democratic 172 11 33 61
Neither 199 13 38 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 6 0 1 100
(Missing) 996 65 NA NA

D3: religious service attendance

Before the coronavirus pandemic, aside from weddings and funerals, how often did you attend religious services?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
More than once a week 141 9 9 9
Once a week 331 22 22 31
Once or twice a month 124 8 8 39
A few times a year 185 12 12 51
Seldom 325 21 21 73
Never 412 27 27 100
SKIPPED ON WEB 5 0 0 100

D4: religious preference

What is your religious preference?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Protestant 341 22 22 22
Roman Catholic 291 19 19 42
Other Christian Religion 374 25 25 66
Mormon/Latter-Day Saints 26 2 2 68
Jewish 26 2 2 69
Muslim/Islam 27 2 2 71
Other Non-Christian Religion 62 4 4 75
No Religion 360 24 24 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 16 1 1 100

D5: born-again or evangelical

Would you describe yourself as a "born-again" or evangelical Christian, or not?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Yes, would 396 26 54 54
No, would not 328 22 45 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 7 0 1 100
(Missing) 792 52 NA NA

D6: ideology

In general, would you describe your political views as…?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Very conservative 134 9 9 9
Conservative 374 25 25 33
Moderate 627 41 41 74
Liberal 251 16 16 91
Very liberal 120 8 8 99
SKIPPED ON WEB 18 1 1 100

party ID with leaners included as partisans

Party ID with leaners included
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Republican 597 39 39 39
Independent 201 13 13 52
Democrat 721 47 47 100
Refused 4 0 0 100