Strange bedfellows indeed.
She didn’t thank them for sparing her the embarrassment of having to sue her own political party, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has given a tacit thumbs up to a lawsuit filed by a Republican against Democrats in control of the state Senate seeking to force a vote on her nomination to lead New York’s court system.
“Obviously, the Senator on his own decided that the best way that can happen is to have it be in the court,” Hochul told The Post in Manhattan on Sunday. “So we’re going to wait now and see what the courts decide.
“Meanwhile, I’m working very hard with the Legislature to get to a budget that meets the needs of New Yorkers,” she added.
“I’ve said all along that it’s very important for this judge’s nomination to go to the floor of the Senate,” Hochul said.
Hector D. LaSalle gives testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. APThe comments are the latest sign of an unofficial alliance between Hochul and Republicans on the matter of her nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to lead New York’s top court, as members of her own party continue calling on her to withdraw his nomination in favor of someone more liberal.
Hochul has said the state Senate Judiciary Committee lacked the authority to formally reject LaSalle, who serves as a Brooklyn appellate judge, by a 10-9 vote last month while leaving her options open when it comes to taking the fight to the courts.
Republican state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Suffolk) has denied that he colluded with Hochul on the lawsuit, which argues that state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Democratic members of the committee who voted against LaSalle “unconstitutionally denied him and other legislators the right to a floor vote on the nomination.”
State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (right), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has sued Democratic colleagues like Chair Brad Hoylman-Sigal (left) over the rejection of Hector LaSalle’s chief judge nomination. AP“It is embarrassing but not surprising that the Senate Republicans have no basic understanding of law or the constitution,” Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Stewart-Cousins, said last week about the lawsuit filed by Palumbo.
A Feb. 17 hearing has been scheduled in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Long Island.
The ongoing fight over LaSalle is one of several areas of ongoing friction between Hochul and the political left following her 53% to 47% victory over Republican Lee Zeldin in the closest gubernatorial election in a generation.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to say for weeks how she would get LaSalle confirmed despite his nomination getting voted down by the state Senate Judiciary Committee last month. AP
Hector LaSalle serves as the presiding judge of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department. New York State Bar AssociationHochul, who is the first governor to ever have a court pick rejected by the Judiciary Committee, has angered progressives in recent weeks by pushing for changes to cash bail laws alongside an effort to expand charter schools in New York City through the budget due April 1.
Other issues requiring political finesse in upcoming weeks include pending state decisions on the locations of downstate casinos and efforts to promote the construction of housing through proposals like an extension of a controversial tax abatement that appears to benefit some of her biggest campaign donors.
Palumbo has denied he colluded with Hochul to spare her the trouble of suing fellow Democrats. APLaSalle would be the first Latino to ever lead the state judiciary if he somehow gets past opposition from Democrats who want to push the Court of Appeals leftward.
If Republicans succeed in getting the 63-member state Senate to vote on LaSalle, Hochul stands to win a big victory in the unlikely event LaSalle gets enough votes from the 42-member Democratic supermajority to get confirmed.
“This suit is proper, and he will win,” former Democratic Gov. David Paterson said over the weekend.
