Fol­low­ing the death Fri­day of Supreme Court Jus­tice Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg, one big ques­tion faces Repub­li­can Sen. Cory Gard­ner: Does he believe the Sen­ate should fill her vacan­cy before the next inau­gu­ra­tion day?

Gardner’s office and his cam­paign did not respond to requests for com­ment on that ques­tion Fri­day evening. The Repub­li­can sen­a­tor, who faces re-elec­tion in 45 days, did offer his con­do­lences in a statement.

“It is with a solemn heart that I pray for the fam­i­ly of Jus­tice Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg,” he said. “Thank you for your ser­vice to our coun­try and our nation’s high­est court. Our nation mourns the loss of a trail­blaz­ing leader.”

As one of the Senate’s pos­si­ble swing votes, and because of state­ments he made four years ago about replac­ing jus­tices in an elec­tion year, Gard­ner has been thrust into the spot­light anew by Ginsburg’s death.

Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader Mitch McConnell said Fri­day that “Pres­i­dent Trump’s nom­i­nee will receive a vote on the floor of the Unit­ed States Sen­ate.” In Feb­ru­ary 2016, the week that the late Jus­tice Antonin Scalia died, Gard­ner said, “I think we’re too close to the elec­tion. The pres­i­dent who is elect­ed in Novem­ber should be the one who makes this decision.”

On Nov. 3, Gard­ner will face John Hick­en­loop­er, a Demo­c­ra­t­ic for­mer gov­er­nor, in a race that could deter­mine con­trol of the U.S. Sen­ate, the body that con­firms jus­tices. Hickenlooper’s spokesman did not respond to a ques­tion about whether the Sen­ate should con­firm Ginsburg’s replace­ment this year.

“Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg was an icon, a trail­blaz­er and one of the great­est peo­ple to ever grace our nation,” Hick­en­loop­er said in a state­ment. “Her death is a loss that will be felt for decades, and her life is one that will be cel­e­brat­ed for gen­er­a­tions to come. Rest in pow­er Jus­tice Ginsburg.”

Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen. Michael Ben­net believes a new Supreme Court jus­tice should not be con­firmed by the Sen­ate before the elec­tion or dur­ing a lame-duck ses­sion between Novem­ber and Jan­u­ary, a spokesper­son said.

A cou­ple hun­dred Gins­burg sup­port­ers gath­ered Fri­day evening for an impromp­tu vig­il in Denver’s City Park. The mood was part sad­ness, part determination.

“It is upon all of us here to put every bit of (exple­tive) pres­sure we can on Cory Gard­ner, to make sure he does not side with Mitch McConnell and vio­late their own (exple­tive) rules,” Demo­c­ra­t­ic Col­orado House Speak­er KC Beck­er said.

An 11-year-old girl named Dahlia Zim­mer­man-Voll cried in her mother’s arms. Wear­ing a Gins­burg shirt and hold­ing a Gins­burg doll, she said the jus­tice was her idol, and that in her hon­or, she is “def­i­nite­ly going to bring justice.”

Vig­il for RBG in Den­ver. Some tears, a lot of qui­et in this crowd. pic.twitter.com/9ZMakzcXuz

— Alex Bur­ness (@alex_burness) Sep­tem­ber 19, 2020

Ginsburg’s death also spurred an out­pour­ing of sen­ti­ment from Col­orado politi­cians of both par­ties. Demo­c­ra­t­ic Attor­ney Gen­er­al Phil Weis­er, who clerked for Gins­burg in 1995 and 1996, said he last saw her in Wash­ing­ton in December.

“I was able to stop by and vis­it her, and she said to me, tongue in cheek, ‘How’s my favorite gen­er­al?’ I’m the only one of her clerks who was elect­ed attor­ney gen­er­al,” he said.

Weis­er described him­self as heart­bro­ken over her loss.

“Jus­tice Gins­burg is an inspi­ra­tion, she is an extra­or­di­nary jurist, she’s a valu­able men­tor, and she’s a part of my life. It’s hard to believe she’s gone. … Our nation’s jurispru­dence, com­mit­ment to equal­i­ty and belief in the rule of law are bet­ter because she served and was a tremen­dous leader. I’m feel­ing a lot of grat­i­tude on a nation­al lev­el and a per­son­al lev­el. I’m also feel­ing a lot of a sense of loss, on a nation­al and a per­son­al level.”

Rep. Ken Buck, a Wind­sor Repub­li­can who chairs the Col­orado Repub­li­can Par­ty, said, “Tonight, the coun­try mourns the loss of a great jurist and an influ­en­tial trail­blaz­er. The thoughts and prayers of Col­orado Repub­li­cans are with her fam­i­ly and loved ones. Rest in peace, Jus­tice Ginsburg.”

Said Demo­c­ra­t­ic Gov. Jared Polis in a state­ment: “Today, Col­oradans and our nation mourn the loss of a titan. We have lost a fear­less advo­cate for women and fam­i­lies and some­one who nev­er stopped work­ing toward greater equal­i­ty for all in the eyes of the law. I am deeply sad­dened by the pass­ing of Jus­tice Ruth Bad­er Ginsburg.”