The full political implications of President Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayor won't be clear for some time. But if history is any indication, senators' questioning and votes in the forthcoming confirmation hearings could play a role in their re-election bids.

Legal experts hearken back to Senate elections where the incumbent's vote on a Supreme Court nominee became a hot-button issue. Christopher Eisgruber, provost of Princeton University and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens, recalled the failed bid of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon in 1992; many believe he lost his primary to challenger Carol Moseley Braun because he voted to confirm Clarence Thomas.

While most agreed that Sotomayor wouldn't be as controversial as Thomas, critics say that her stance on social issues and gun rights could trigger concern among red state Democrats or electoral fodder for those senators' challengers. Meanwhile, GOP senators hailing from states with large Hispanic populations, such as Judiciary Committee members John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, have been careful to distance themselves from the inflammatory rhetoric of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh.

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