Interested Parties Memo: Tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Hearing and Our New Senate Battleground Poll

Press Release / June 09, 2026

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Josh Orton, President, Demand Justice

DATE: June 9, 2026

RE: Tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Hearing and Our New Senate Battleground Poll

Tomorrow morning at 10:15am, a Trump judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Michigan – Michael Martin – will appear under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee and will reportedly become the FIRST Trump judicial nominee of his second term to publicly contradict the President, and state unequivocally that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and that January 6th was an attack on our Capitol.

Mr. Martin assured Senator Slotkin and Senator Peters that he will tell the truth about these two events, which is why both Senators returned a blue slip for Mr. Martin.

If Mr. Martin does tell the truth, will President Trump pull his nomination? 

To date, all 50 of Trump’s judicial nominees have refused to say that Donald Trump lost in 2020, and that January 6th was an attack on our Capitol.

And why would President Trump give Mr. Martin a pass? 

Just this weekend, Trump stormed off the set of a Meet the Press interview after declining to rule out providing taxpayer funds to the 172 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers on January 6th and calling the 2020 election “rigged.” 

This is becoming a major political liability for Donald Trump. 

Which is why when Democratic Senators vote for Trump judicial nominees, or when they return a blue slip unconditionally like Senator Fetterman did earlier this week, they are making a moral and political mistake.

Our new poll proves it.

GQR — on behalf of Demand Justice — has a new survey of 1,800 registered voters across nine battleground states that will decide the Senate majority: Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.

The results speak to the political damage for Republicans of Trump’s continued false claims about the 2020 election, his decision to pardon January 6th convicts and set up a taxpayer fund to compensate them, and how voters will approach a future Supreme Court vacancy under Trump.

KEY RESULTS

January 6th and 2020 election denial remain a defining vulnerability

  • Voters disapprove of Trump’s decision to pardon and release every January 6th convict by a 24-point margin (62 to 38), with 51 percent disapproving strongly.
  • 71 percent of independents disapprove of the January 6th pardons.
  • January 6 rioters have a -51 net approval. 
  • 68 percent say Biden legitimately won in 2020 — including 75 percent of independents — while election denial is driven almost entirely by Republicans. (Eighty-one percent also affirm Trump legitimately won in 2024.)
  • By nearly 2-to-1, 61 percent of voters say a future Supreme Court nominee who refuses to acknowledge that January 6th was an attack on the Capitol would be disqualifying.

Loyalty to Trump is disqualifying — the single biggest liability we tested

  • 70 percent of battleground voters say it would be disqualifying for a nominee if their main qualification is loyalty to Trump.
  • 53 percent already expect to disapprove of Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee before he has even named one, including 60 percent of independents. The top reason, by far, is the fear that he will pick someone more loyal to him than to the Constitution — 44 percent of those inclined to disapprove cited this reason in open ended questions. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • At a time when 70% of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, he’s doubling down on January 6th and the 2020 election, which our poll finds voters overwhelmingly disapprove.
  • In the event of a Supreme Court vacancy before November, candidates who frame a coming fight around loyalty to Trump over the Constitution and the January 6th pardons will be speaking directly to where these voters already are.

METHODOLOGY

  • GQR survey of 1,800 registered voters across nine Senate battleground states (Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas), conducted May 13–24, 2026. Overall margin of error ± 2.3 percentage points; higher within individual states and subgroups.