Though Sonia Sotomayor has strong support from Democrats, there’s been some concern that the National Rifle Association, which has opposed Sotomayor and announced it’s “scoring” lawmakers based on their vote for her, would temper pro-gun Democrats’ support for the Supreme Court nominee. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Thursday predicted the NRA won’t have much effect.
“I think the fact the NRA is scoring that vote is dumb,” McCaskill told CQ Politics.“I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t get everybody’s support.” CQ reports that pro-gun Democrats planning to vote for Sotomayor include Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, who supports allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed firearms across state lines and is facing re-election next year.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) also said on Thursday that he’ll support Sotomayor. But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) won’t say how he’ll vote until next week. He insisted, however, that the NRA’s scoring “is not going to effect how I vote.”