This week, U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine cast a vote that he now admits was incorrect—confirming a contentious Missouri solicitor general’s lifetime appointment as a federal judge.
King, an independent renowned for being a strong supporter of abortion rights, caucuses with Democrats. Abortion rights organizations were perplexed by his vote to appoint Missouri solicitor general Josh Divine to a lifetime position in his home state.
With a lengthy history of opposing abortion rights, including defending Missouri’s nearly complete prohibition on the procedure and its attempt to limit access to medical abortion, Divine is seen as an extreme conservative.
According to reports, King stated that he supported Divine because Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri had suggested him. Hawley had employed Divine when the senator was the attorney general of Missouri.
King admitted to being unaware of Divine’s record on abortion rights and said that his vote was a mistake in an interview with the Huffington Post on Thursday. King’s spokeswoman attested to the senator’s accuracy of the quotation.
Sen. Susan Collins and other Senate Republicans were united in their support for King’s confirmation, therefore his vote was not decisive.
