If Kkkavanaugh is withdrawn/denied confirmation how long until the next appointee?

This falls under counting chickens before they're hatched, but if Ford's testimony damages Kavanaugh enough that he loses Collins/Murkowski/Flake support and he is not confirmed, it would probably be until after the midterms until a replacement appointee could come to the floor for a vote, right?

What would be great about that is that the red state Senators facing re-election would no longer have any pressure to confirm because they'd either be lame ducks or re-elected to new 6 year terms. And, if Mueller is holding his haymakers until after the mid-terms so that he isn't accused of trying to influence the election, Trump could be in a weakened state with his new appointment.

Then, it's not far from Christmas break and if it could somehow remain unfilled until January, if there is a Democratic Senate, it could be Merrick Garland payback time.

Am I being way too optimistic to even think this?