The Long History of Presidents Nominating Supreme Court Justices in Presidential Election Years

In the wake of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, President Barack Obama announced his intention to fulfill his constitutional responsibility to nominate a successor to Scalia. Obama did so despite calls by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders for him to withhold a nomination and leave the choice to his successor. Republican presidential nominees Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio joined the call for the president to forego nominating a successor to Scalia, although Cruz dodged a question at Saturday’s debate about whether he would likewise pledge to withhold Supreme Court nominations late in his own term if elected president. Cruz also erroneously claimed that there is “80 years of precedent of not confirming Supreme Court justices in an election year.” In fact, the Democrat-controlled opposition Senate resoundingly confirmed Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Anthony Kennedy in 1988 by a vote of 97-0.There is actually a long history of presidents nominating Supreme Court justices in presidential election years. Presidents have made 15 Supreme Court nominations in the calendar year of a presidential election that chose their successor (though