Do Race and Gender on the Court Matter?

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Tabular Results
Survey Details
Republican Response
Democratic Response

According to the most recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll, 42% of the Garden State’s likely voters say it’s “not at all important” for the President to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court rather than a man. Another 11% say it’s “just a little important.” In addition, 45% of the state’s likely voters say it’s “not at all important” for the President to nominate a minority to the Supreme Court and another 10% say it’s “just a little important.”

Men and women, Republicans and Democrats, white voters and non-white voters have different opinions on the matter. Half of male likely voters (50%) say it is “not at all important” that President Bush nominate a woman for the Supreme Court. But a majority of women voters (55%) say it’s somewhat or very important that he nominate a woman to the Court. Half of Democrats (51%) also say it’s somewhat or very important to nominate a woman, while 62% of Republicans say it’s just a little or not at all important to nominate a woman. And a majority (56%) of white voters say it’s “just a little” or “not at all” important to nominate a woman, while a majority of non-white voters (57%) say it’s somewhat or very important to nominate a woman.

“A case certainly can be made that men are capable of representing women's interests well,” said Dr. Krista Jenkins, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson. “But women often bring unique life experiences to political institutions which can translate into better representation for women.”

Likewise, 53% of likely male voters say it’s “not at all important’ to nominate a minority, such as a black or Hispanic, for a position on the court, and 50% of white voters as well as 53% of Republicans agree that it’s “not at all important.” But 62% of non-white voters say it’s somewhat or very important for the President to nominate a minority to the court, and 53% of Democrats agree. “I like to think that in the 21st century we've all moved away from supporting a candidate merely because of gender -- and race or ethnicity,” said Dr. Diane Sommerville, a professor of American history and Director of the Women’s Studies program at FDU. “Rather a well-informed citizen will support only well-qualified judicial appointees.”

“New Jersey voters may not be overly concerned with gender or racial representation on the Supreme Court,” said Dr. Bruce Peabody, “but this matter is of great importance for national opinion leaders, including politicians and journalists. Bush chose a woman to replace Sandra Day O’Connor because he thought it politically expedient. That the woman turned out to be Harriet Miers was the surprise.”

Meanwhile, the man who makes those nominations continues to get poor job performance ratings. Only a third (34%) of likely voters say the President is doing a good or excellent job while 25% say he’s doing “only fair” and 39% say he’s doing a “poor” job. Moreover, nearly two-thirds (63%) say the country is “on the wrong track,” while only 28% say the country is moving in the right direction.

The PublicMind poll of 602 likely voters statewide was conducted by telephone from October 4 through October 9 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Poll Analysis

Contacts:

Peter Woolley 973.670.3239
or
Krista Jenkins 973.443.8390

Radio actuality line: (201) 692-2846.

For more information, please call (201) 692-7032.