Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly joined other senators Monday in calling for a delay on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote, after a woman went public with accusations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school.

Not only could the recent allegations impact Kavanaugh's future, but it also creates a new dynamic for red-state Democats like Donnelly who risk losing voters in the midterm elections based on their Kavanaugh vote.

Donnelly is locked in a tight race against Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun and is considered one of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats.

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If the Senate moves forward with a vote before the Nov. 6 election, it would be more challenging for Donnelly to vote for Kavanaugh and still keep his base and attract independent voters, some political observers say.

And if any Senate confirmation hearing is delayed until after the midterm election, conservatives could be more motivated to come out and vote for a Republican candidate who would almost certainly confirm President Donald Trump's pick.

Christine Blasey Ford, 51 accused Kavanaugh of holding her down and trying to remove her clothes at a party in high school, more than three decades ago. Her story became public last week in a New Yorker story, but she wasn't identified until she was interviewed for a Washington Post story Sunday.

Some Republicans and Democrats have called for the vote to be delayed until senators have the chance to hear from Ford herself.

"The allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh are serious and merit further review," Donnelly said in a statement. "Given the nature of these allegations, and the number of outstanding questions, I believe the judiciary committee should hold off on Thursday's scheduled votes."

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations and both Ford and Kavanaugh said they would testify regarding the allegations.

Before Ford went public, Donnelly was facing millions of dollars worth of ads from across the political spectrum pressuring him on the Kavanaugh vote. He had yet to say whether he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

Political scientists say they believe Donnellly was poised to vote for Kavanaugh. Donnelly voted for Trump's first Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, and political scientists said there was no indication that he would vote otherwise for a very similar nominee.

The Ford allegations have made the decision more complicated.

"This sort of puts everything in turmoil," said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan newsletter at the University of Virginia. "I think what the red-state Democrats are looking for is some Republicans to express concerns so that sort of gives them some bipartisan credibility to say they are also concerned."

If Donnelly doesn't oppose Kavanaugh's confirmation, his Democrat base could be more reluctant to vote for him — especially women, a critical part of the potential "blue wave."

Donnelly already may struggle to maintain excitement within that voting bloc more so than other Democrats: Donnelly has received a smaller share of his contributions from women — 28.5 percent — than nearly all Senate Democrats facing re-election this year, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

"You could kind of smell where Donnelly was headed," Robert Dion, a political scientist at the University of Evansville, said. "But now it’s a different ball game. You could run the risk of stretching the goodwill of your base a bit too far, and demobilizing them."

For Dion, the Kavanaugh situation brings back memories of watching the hearings of Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court judge who had sexual harassment accusations brought forth against him.

Regardless, Thomas was eventually confirmed. At the time there were only two female senators in the chamber, compared to today's 21.

There's also the chance the Kavanaugh vote could be postponed or Kavanaugh could withdraw from consideration. If that happens, filling the open Supreme Court position would likely be delayed until after the midterm election.

Kondik said dragging out the confirmation process could hurt Democrats such as Donnelly because conservatives might be even more likely to vote for a Republican candidate in November if a life-time Supreme Court appointment is on the line.

"It's easy to make an actual vacancy salient, than a confirmation," Kondik said.

Before Ford came forward publicly, polls showed Donnelly could lose voters regardless of how he voted on Kavanaugh.

A Fox News poll released before Ford came forward showed that if Donnelly voted against Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, 21 percent of likely voters would be more likely to vote for him, and 29 percent of likely voters would be less likely to vote for him.

Braun's campaign did not return emails regarding Ford's allegations. Previously, Braun has supported Trump's nominee and criticized Donnelly for not saying how he planned to vote.

"I think every day that Joe Donnelly remains on the sidelines, it shows Hoosiers that his campaign and his decision are orchestrated by Chuck Schumer," Braun said previously.

USA Today contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.