Campaigning on the Court: Congressional Campaign Ads and their Effect on U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy

With the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973), discourse surrounding the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court has escalated drastically. However views surrounding the Supreme Court’s legitimacy have always permeated its way into the political arena through the development of media and advertising. In order to best understand why the Supreme Court is being questioned, we must examine when it occurs. To analyze media involvement in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, I analyzed political candidate’s use of Supreme Court issues and characterization of the court. A set of over 300 political campaign ads have been analyzed and coded within my research and I found that politicians are more likely to mention the characterization of the court as unruly in times when their state had previously elected a presidential candidate that is opposing to their political party. I have also found that politicians who have a history of the oppositional party winning within their district, grasp at Supreme Court legislative issues in order to propose that their election into office would change such issues. While the majority of research surrounding political campaign ads have focused on aspects of subjectivity, tone, and issues of gender, my research specifically establishes the use of political campaign ads as a means to direct and change perceived legitimacy of the Supreme Court.