Longtime Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley may be facing his toughest opponent since being elected to represent Iowans in Washington, D.C. in 1975. This year, questions surrounding his handling of a Supreme Court nomination gave Democrat Patty Judge an opportunity to unseat the aging Republican from small-town Iowa.

When Antonin Scalia, an important conservative on the Supreme Court, died earlier this year, President Barack Obama swiftly nominated DC Appellate Court judge Merrick Garland to fill his post. According to the US Constitution, judges must be confirmed by the Senate before officially becoming a Supreme Court judge. Chuck Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that controls hearings for potential nominees and has refused to hold hearings for any judge until the election this November.

Grassley’s resistance leaves the court with only eight justices, causing deadlock on many important cases. Patty Judge said after a 4-4 decision regarding Obama’s immigration executive order, “Today’s split decision by the Supreme Court is another reminder of how critical it is that Chuck Grassley do his job and begin the process of filling the vacancy on the court.”

Grassley has resisted the controversy and Judge’s criticisms, saying, “When you have a lame duck president, during the last year, a [Supreme Court] appointment should go over to a new president.” Sara Russell, government teacher at Pleasant Valley, said, “Grassley has never had significant competition since being elected 40 years ago, I think the Supreme Court issue has made him a much more vulnerable candidate.”

Regardless of Grassley’s troubles this past year, polls from RealClearPolitics and the Des Moines Register still put him 11 points ahead of Judge. As the days until the election tick down, Grassley has unleashed a barrage of advertisements across the state aimed at improving his image among voters who may be on the fence. Only time will tell if he can hold off an a motivated opposition backing Judge in 2016.