U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to announce by Saturday his nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and he has suggested it would be a woman.
At present the names most likely to be submitted are Amy Coney Barrett of Louisiana, a circuit judge of the Court of Appeals, and Cuban American Barbara Lagoa of Florida, another Court of Appeals circuit judge. Trump said he had more than 40 names on his list.
Barrett is said to be the early favorite for Trump's nomination. She was nominated for a Supreme Court vacancy in 2018 that eventually went to Brett Kavanaugh.
Barrett has Republican Party political support from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. A Republican Party source told CNN the Republican Party's familiarity with Barrett might help her nomination move quicker.
Barrett returned to the White House on Tuesday for a second consecutive day after meeting Trump on Monday.
Louisiana is a reliably Republican state despite its Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards. Its House of Representatives and Senate are under Republican control. Trump won the popular vote in Louisiana against Hillary Clinton in the last general election.
Lagoa's Florida has 29 Election College votes - the third largest after California and Texas. Trump won the popular vote in Florida by 1.2% against Clinton.
Florida is a swing state Trump must win for reelection. Biden has led Trump in most opinion polls in Florida but the race is tightening. The latest Battleground Tracker Poll from CBS News released Sunday showed Biden with a small lead over Trump in Florida: 48% to 46%. Biden's lead is four percentage points lower than the previous poll and is within the margin of error.
CBS said Biden's smaller lead in Florida was because Trump had swayed some of the state's undecided voters. Trump has also boosted his lead among white voters.
Trump is said to have told people close to him he liked the idea of nominating Lagoa - despite having met her once. Trump thinks Lagoa could be beneficial to him politically. He indicated he might meet with Lagoa when he visits Miami later this week.
"She's excellent. She's Hispanic. She's a terrific woman from everything I know," he said. "I don't know her. Florida. We love Florida," Trump said on Fox.
Other possible candidates for the nomination are judges Joan Larsen of Michigan, Allison Jones Rushing of North Carolina and Kate Todd, deputy counsel to Trump and formerly chief counsel of the United States Chamber Litigation Center.
