Barely catching its breath after a momentous 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court begins the new year under the politicized spotlight of a presidential election as it confronts blockbuster issues that include abortion, affirmative action, contraception and immigration.

But will the intense political climate affect how the justices decide those hot-button cases? The year 2016 may prove to be a new test of the century-old admonition of humorist Finley Peter Dunne’s character Mr. Dooley that the high court “follows the election returns” when it writes opinions.

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But Republicans are not the only ones who will be watching the court in 2016, Stanford Law School professor Pamela Karlan said. “I can see candidates, from both parties, trying to rally their base in the general election by pointing to the number of hot-button issues that hang in the balance.”