--- title: Neil Gorsuch: Conservatives Thank Dem Senators Voting Yes description: A conservative judicial group is running new ads thanking two Democratic senators who broke ranks and said they would support Neil Gorsuch. canonical: https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-02T14:05:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:28.506Z article:section: Politics og:title: Conservative Judicial Group Runs Ads Thanking Democratic Senators Supporting Neil Gorsuch og:description: The Senate will vote on Gorsuch's nomination this week og:url: https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c75acf3e6faa1f/6988bf552dce01f42a9ecb8d/gettyimages-633344768.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Supreme Court Nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch Meets Senators On Capitol Hill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Conservative Judicial Group Runs Ads Thanking Democratic Senators Supporting Neil Gorsuch twitter:description: The Senate will vote on Gorsuch's nomination this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c75acf3e6faa1f/6988bf552dce01f42a9ecb8d/gettyimages-633344768.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Conservative Judicial Group Runs Ads Thanking Democratic Senators Supporting Neil Gorsuch ## Video: Heidi Heitkamp Supports Judge Gorsuch Political Ad [Watch (HLS stream): Heidi Heitkamp Supports Judge Gorsuch Political Ad](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x0akLfSt.m3u8) (0:30)  _Published 2017-04-02. United States Senator from North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp Supports Judge Gorsuch._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 2, 2017 2:05 PM UTC  Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch looks on as Senate Judiciary chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks to reporters before their meeting on Capitol Hill, February 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch looks on as Senate Judiciary chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks to reporters before their meeting on Capitol Hill, February 1, 2017 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 2, 2017 2:05 PM UTC As Democrats [near the numbers](http://time.com/4720800/neil-gorsuch-filibuster-democrats-numbers/?iid=sr-link2) they need to [filibuster](http://time.com/4720478/neil-gorsuch-filibuster-republicans-reaction/) Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination, a conservative judicial group is running new ads thanking two Democratic senators who broke ranks and said they would support him. The ads, paid for by the Judicial Crisis Network and provided exclusively to TIME, praise West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp for their decisions to vote against their party’s filibuster attempt and for President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee. The group spent more than six figures combined on the digital ads, which will begin running Sunday in both senators’ home states. “Judge Gorsuch is an exceptionally well qualified candidate with bipartisan support and Sens. Heitkamp and Manchin have done the right thing by supporting his nomination,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, told TIME in a statement. “The people have spoken and both senators deserve thanks for putting the people first and rejecting the gridlock campaign of the radical left.” The ads highlight the tricky position Heitkamp and Manchin found themselves in after the election: they are both Democratic senators [from states that Trump won](http://time.com/4663815/neil-gorsuch-democrats-senate-vote/?iid=sr-link1). “President Trump won North Dakota because voters wanted judges like Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court,” Heitkamp’s ad says. The Senate will vote on Gorsuch’s nomination this week. Republicans need six more Democrats besides Heitkamp and Manchin to get the 60 votes needed to override a filibuster. If they can’t get the votes, Republicans have signaled they’re willing to trigger the so-called nuclear option that would allow them to bypass the procedural hurdle and confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority vote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/"},"headline":"Conservative Judicial Group Runs Ads Thanking Democratic Senators Supporting Neil Gorsuch","datePublished":"2017-04-02T14:05:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:28.506Z","description":"The Senate will vote on Gorsuch's nomination this week","url":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/","keywords":["Supreme Court","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c75acf3e6faa1f/6988bf552dce01f42a9ecb8d/gettyimages-633344768.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c75acf3e6faa1f/6988bf552dce01f42a9ecb8d/gettyimages-633344768.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supreme Court Nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch Meets Senators On Capitol Hill","caption":"Supreme Court Nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch Meets Senators On Capitol Hill","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/","name":"Conservative Judicial Group Runs Ads Thanking Democratic Senators Supporting Neil Gorsuch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Heidi Heitkamp Supports Judge Gorsuch Political Ad","description":"United States Senator from North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp Supports Judge Gorsuch.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/x0akLfSt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-02T13:24:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x0akLfSt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/","duration":"PT30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```