Jennifer Brady, a centrist Democrat and former English professor at Rhodes College, can’t reconcile two things: her strong admiration for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett – one of the top two students she had in 36 years of teaching – and her deep concern about Senate Republicans pushing through her nomination so late in an election year.

“Had the Republicans not cynically blocked [President Barack Obama’s 2016] Merrick Garland nomination, I think hers would have been unproblematic,” says Professor Brady. “Amy is a self-professed Scalia protégé, but without his abrasiveness.”

Indeed, Judge Barrett shares the originalist judicial philosophy exemplified by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but approaches her work with a far more collegial demeanor than her famously irascible former boss. Former colleagues and legal experts say that could enable her to build greater consensus among fellow justices, meaning that if the Senate confirms her nomination, she may deliver not only an extra vote but stronger conservative rulings.