Like the half a dozen speakers before her last Thursday, Jean Durbin denounced Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at a rally in downtown Princeton.

But unlike the others, she was the bearer of breaking news: Two decisive Senate Republicans had just announced that a much-anticipated FBI report did not corroborate the damning allegations of sexual assault leveled at Kavanaugh.

The implication was immediately clear to the roughly 75 protesters: Kavanaugh"s confirmation was all but certain.

The crowd grumbled with disgust, but Durbin also swiftly improvised, offering them another chance to channel their disappointment: the midterm elections.

"If you don't vote for Senator Menendez, you are voting for Donald Trump,'' Durbin said, referring to the incumbent Democrat locked in a tighter-than-expected reelection race against Republican Bob Hugin. "So get out the vote!"

Durbin's improvised battle cry distills what many Democrats hope will be a consolation prize, of sorts, for the failed effort to derail Kavanaugh's nomination. The Republican push to put him on the Supreme Court will only intensify Democratic anger, which reached a near-boil long ago over Donald J. Trump's presidency.

But Republicans are also expecting a backlash bounce from the Kavanaugh furor. Although it isn't expected to be as widespread or as intense after the successful confirmation fight, the bitterness will linger.

And that bitterness, especially over how poorly they believe Democrats treated Kavanaugh and a deep-seated suspicion that he was the target of a calculated "political hit" — a term that a defiant Kavanaugh used during his testimony — could mobilize more of New Jersey's Republican base than originally forecast.

"I think there will be an uptick in both [parties],'' Michael DuHaime, a veteran Republican strategist, said Friday before the confirmation vote. "The loser is going to be more intense. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, I think you will see an even higher uptick in Democratic intensity. I didn't think it could get higher, but I think it is."

He added, "But I think the Republicans have coalesced and energized around this in a way that I think surprised most people who are watching this, who thought this was going to only benefit Democrats."

Anti-Trump anger turned once-reliable Republican congressional districts into Democratic takeover targets.

The Morris County-centric 11th District, the 7th, which stretches from Union County suburbs to the Delaware River in Warren County, and the 3rd District in South Jersey, which Trump won by 5 points in 2016 — are now in Democratic Party sites.

The Kavanaugh battle has not been as intense in the House races, since members do not vote on Supreme Court nominees, but some candidates have used the issue to stir up support among their base supporters.

Seth Grossman, the Republican nominee in the 2nd District in South Jersey, vigorously defended Kavanaugh as the target of a coordinated smear. Grossman, who is a long shot against Democrat Jeff Van Drew, a Cape May County legislator, has been a staunch defender of Trump and has used the Kavanaugh fight as a rallying cry.

Tom Malinowski, the Democratic nominee in the 7th District, has chastised Republican incumbent Leonard Lance for telling a group of Rutgers University Republicans last month that he tended "not to believe" the charges against Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who accused Kavanagh of attempting to rape her at a Maryland house party when both were teenagers in the early 1980s.

In some ways, the issue should be a blessing for Menendez, who has struggled to pull away from Hugin, despite a 925,000 advantage in Democratic voter registration and hailing from a state where Trump is widely disliked. On the surface, Hugin should have been an easy target, given his own ties to Trump — he served as a Trump delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and was a generous Trump donor.

But Hugin, the former chief executive of pharmaceutical maker Celgene Corp., had used his personal wealth to fund a heavy barrage of ads that both criticized Menendez as corrupt and offered himself as a moderate alternative who supports same-sex marriage and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Menendez, who voted against the Kavanaugh nomination, has pressed Hugin to take a clear position on Kavanaugh, but Hugin proved to be wily and elusive. While Hugin appeared ready last month to back Kavanaugh's nomination, he jumped to the sidelines after the explosive allegations of attempted rape surfaced.

By staying neutral and calling for a full investigation of the charges, Hugin cast himself as being judicious and not a lock-step Trump partisan. He also ignored Menendez's demands to take a side in the battle. Finally, on Friday, Hugin announced his support for the nominee, and Menendez quickly pounced.

"He will never stand up to Trump and he will never be on our side," Menendez said in a tweet that included a photo illustration of Hugin's face in a court jester costume bouncing on a pogo stick as Trump shouts "Jump!"

Some Democratic observers believe the confirmation fight will only sharpen the differences between the two and clarify the long-term stakes in the election. Some analysts say the Kavanaugh vote could dispel lingering doubts among Democrats and independents about Menendez with a bracing dose of pragmatism.

More:With Kavanaugh vote pending, Kagan, Sotomayor warn of court pulled into political fray

More:Rutgers law professors: Confirmation of Kavanaugh could have 'devastating effects'

More:Senate split: Bob Hugin says he'd vote for Brett Kavanaugh after Bob Menendez votes 'no'

Although they may have misgivings about Menendez's character — a federal corruption case ended in a mistrial last year, but the Senate "severely admonished" him for his conduct — he can now more forcefully make the case that he'll be a reliable check against future Trump court picks.

And a Menendez loss could potentially widen the GOP margin in the Senate, which now stands at 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats, although two independents currently caucus with Democrats.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll, which showed Menendez leading Hugin by 53 percent to 42 percent, suggested that voters are amenable to that argument.

Indeed, the doubts about Menendez's character run deep. Most voters view him unfavorably, and nearly 60 percent do not think he is honest.

But those doubts pale in comparison with public disgust about Trump, according to the poll. Voters gave Trump a dismal 35 percent job approval rating, compared with 62 percent who disapproved. A large majority of voters, 63 percent, want Congress to be a check on Trump's agenda — especially women, who are backing Menendez over Hugin by almost 20 points.

"It's less than ideal, but he wasn't convicted,'' said Durbin, the rally speaker, who is president of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, referring to Menendez. "It is what it is. He is a Democratic senator, and we cannot lose him in this climate."