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CONCORD, N.H. Though an impeachment trial, a Russia investigation, an Iran crisis and other daily turmoil, President Trump has repeatedly been able to point to one consistent success that has united Republicans moving conservative justices onto all levels of the federal judiciary.

The count now stands at more than 180 judges many of whom are endorsed by the conservative legal group, the Federalist Society. About 50 of the judges sit on the nations appeals courts. (By comparison, President Barack Obama appointed about that many circuit court judges during his entire eight-year term.)

Mr. Trumps ability to push through judges has been possible in large part because of the success that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has had in holding open seats during the Obama administration and pushing nominees through after Mr. Trump took office.

On Saturday, eight of the presidential candidates still in the Democratic primary race took turns outlining their views on the federal judiciary; they argued about how and whether they would work with Republicans, if elected, and how they would protect reproductive rights and other Democratic priorities.

But for all of the focus on the critical importance of the courts, the candidates recognized the limits of what even a Democratic president could do, if Republicans and Mr. McConnell remained in control of the Senate.

The best solution to the Senate is to make sure that in 2021, Mitch McConnell is no longer in the majority, or preferably not in the Senate at all, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., told the gathering on Saturday. He added, This is our chance, this is our only chance.

We are going to be, I think, just about No. 1 by the time we finish No. 1 of any president, any administration, Mr. Trump bragged in November, releasing a fact sheet about his success in confirming judicial nominees.

As a result, Democrats fear reversals on a wide array of labor law, civil rights and environmental cases as the courts move steadily to the right. Perhaps no issue has garnered more attention than reproductive rights, in which Democrats fear a conservative-leaning Supreme Court can significantly restrict or even remove the constitutional right to abortion.

We have courts that are completely out of balance that have been taken over by activist judges who certainly, absolutely want to end Roe and criminalize abortion, said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, which co-sponsored the forum on Saturday. But abortion is always the tip of the spear on human rights.

At the event Saturday, Democratic candidates largely were unified in their pledge to try to balance Mr. Trumps judicial appointments with ones of their own. Several candidates, including Senators Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, and Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, said they would be in favor of creating their own lists of qualified justices who they would be ready to push forward on the first day of their administrations.

Lets give Trump and Mitch McConnell some credit, Mr. Sanders said. They were well organized; they knew what they were doing. As a member of the Senate, I can tell you, you know what we do every day? We vote for right-wing, extremist judges.

As Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund executive, put it: Someones got a steamroller. And theyre going right over us.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts attacked the qualifications of the judges appointed by Mr. Trump, calling them beyond unqualified and arguing that they would not have been acceptable in previous presidential administrations.

Asked by a moderator whether she would seek to appoint young progressive justices to the court to balance conservative appointments by Mr. Trump, she said she would.

I want judges who believe in democracy, who believe in justice, who believe in the rights of individuals, she said, because that is the job of a justice.

The Democratic candidates were repeatedly pressed by moderators to explain how they planned to make any changes to the courts or to enshrine threatened civil rights legislation into law if the Senate remained controlled by Republicans.

The most common answer involved winning elections. If we dont change Congress, were screwed. Mr. Buttigieg said.

Power is the only language the Senate G.O.P. responds to right now, he said. Our partys sense of fair play has come back to bite us.

Ms. Klobuchar argued that her experience in the Senate had given her insight into how to work the levers of Congress and, if necessary, to conduct a pressure campaign to get judicial openings filled with candidates of her choosing.

Its a game thats been going on, Ms. Klobuchar said. Youve got to be creative.

All of the candidates staunchly backed a womans right to choose, and most pledged to do whatever they could to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that established theconstitutional right to abortion.

Ms. Warren said that over the years, the rights afforded by the case had become narrower and narrower, like were standing on a ledge, and every couple of months another rock sort of breaks loose and falls off. And she argued that simply seeking to protect the reproductive rights through the courts was no longer sufficient.

When youve got a tilted Supreme Court and a tilted court system, weve got to start putting a lot more emphasis on what we can do through Congress, she said. In a democracy, when three out of four people want to see something be the law, then its time for us to mobilize and make it the law.

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Trump Has Reshaped the Judiciary. Heres How the 2020 Democrats Would Address That. - The New York Times