Poll: Majority approve of Sotomayor

A majority of Americans approve of President Obama’s choice to nomiante Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, a new Quinnipiac poll finds.

54% approve of Sotomayor, 24% disapprove, and 22% have no opinion so far.

As expected, there’s a deep partisan split. 81% of Democrats approve of Sotomayor, with just 3% disapproving. That compares to a 50%-26% favorable margin among independents. Just 26% of Republicans support Sotomayor.

More from Quinnipiac:

The fact that Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice is a “very important factor” in President Obama’s decision to nominate her, 34 percent of American voters say, with 36 percent calling it “somewhat important.” A total of 26 percent call it “not too important” or “not important at all.”

A nominee’s legal qualifications are more important than achieving diversity on the Supreme Court, American voters say 60 – 8 percent, while 29 percent say both factors are equally important.

In a Gallup poll released yesterday, 47% of respondents said the choice of Sotoamyor was either “excellent” or “good.”