Key Senate Race Called as Republicans Push to Expand Majority

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Despite growing pressure from some liberal activists who have urged Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire so that Democrats can appoint her successor before a shift in political power, sources close to the justice have stated that she has no intention of stepping down. This information was reported in a recent Sunday article.

According to a person familiar with Sotomayor’s philosophy, she is 70 years old and takes good care of herself, but she is not yet ready to retire. Sotomayor was appointed the senior member of the court’s liberal minority by President Barack Obama in 2009.

This position traditionally makes her the leader of the group, especially as the court has become increasingly divided with a six-justice conservative majority, including three justices appointed by President Trump during his first term. As a result, the liberal justices have increasingly found themselves issuing dissenting opinions on key issues such as abortion rights and presidential power.

In addition to her role as a Supreme Court justice, Sotomayor is a bestselling author of memoirs and children’s books, a frequent advocate for civics education, and a well-known public figure, having appeared on platforms like Sesame Street. A recent Marquette Law School poll revealed that while many Americans may not be familiar with the members of the Supreme Court, Sotomayor enjoys the highest favorability rating of any justice.

Following the election, some liberal figures, including David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect magazine, suggested it might be a good time for Sotomayor to retire. Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan also raised concerns about Sotomayor’s health, citing her lifelong battle with Type 1 diabetes and revisiting his previous opinion that she should step down.

The discourse surrounding Sotomayor’s future has been influenced by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020 at the age of 87. Ginsburg had resisted calls from liberals to retire while President Obama held appointment power, ultimately allowing President Trump to solidify the court’s conservative majority by appointing Justice Amy Coney Barrett shortly before Democrats took control of both the White House and the Senate.

This fear of weakening the court’s liberal minority led some to pressure Justice Stephen Breyer to retire after President Biden’s election in 2021. This pressure culminated in the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022 after Breyer’s retirement at age 83.

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, who had urged Ginsburg to retire earlier, explained that the situation surrounding Sotomayor is different, noting the uncertainty of whether Democrats could confirm a successor in the current political climate.

Some conservatives have speculated about potential retirements among senior members of the court’s constitutional originalist wing, particularly Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74, with some suggesting they may retire before the 2026 midterm elections.

Mike Davis, a conservative activist close to Trump, commented on social media that Justice Alito may soon be retiring, though others, like Leonard Leo, a leader of the Federalist Society, criticized such speculation, calling it disrespectful and unwarranted. Neither Justice Thomas nor Justice Alito has publicly indicated any intention to retire.

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