Gov. Kathy Hochul is locked in a fierce fight with Democratic state senators that some predict could lead to political “carnage” over her nomination Thursday of centrist Hector LaSalle to lead the state Court of Appeals.

Latinos are celebrating the nomination of the first non-white person to lead the state’s highest court — but an increasing number of progressives are angry that LaSalle is a law-and-order former prosecutor who is not lefty enough on key topics like abortion and labor rights.

Latinos are celebrating the nomination of the first non-white person to lead the state’s highest court — but an increasing number of progressives say LaSalle is not lefty enough on key topics like abortion and labor rights.

“There is going to be carnage here,” a legislative source told The Post on Friday. “This is going to get f–king ugly.”

The escalating conflict between Hochul and Democratic legislators was already nearing historic proportions by Friday afternoon as one Democratic senator after another announced they will vote to make LaSalle the first person ever rejected by the state Senate to lead the state’s highest court.

“After a careful review of the nominee, I am forced to conclude he would be regressive on issues impacting women’s rights, labor issues, and climate change. I will be a ‘no’ on Judge LaSalle,” state Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) tweeted Friday morning.

Some progressives object to LaSalle because his appointment as the fourth former prosecutor on the seven-member Court of Appeals would disadvantage criminal justice reformers for years to come considering the 12-year terms served by members.

Lefty legislators say LaSalle’s background as a lead gang prosecutor and deputy bureau chief of the special investigations bureau in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office hardly fits their decarceral vision for the Empire State. 

“This week she’s tried to push through bail reform rollbacks & just nominated a former prosecutor to our highest court. It’s indefensible to ask for Black votes and then work to incarcerate us. No on LaSalle,” socialist state Sen. Jabari Brisport tweeted.

Much of the opposition to LaSalle also focuses on a few controversial rulings while serving in the state Supreme Court’s Second Department in Brooklyn, which involved liberal lightening rod issues – from abortion rights to unions.

One of the cases that has drawn a lot of heat from the left highlights involves so-called “Pregnancy Crisis Centers” that were supposedly practicing medicine illegally while urging women to avoid abortions.

Then state Sen. Eric Schneiderman alleged at the time that the centers were masquerading as medical facilities by “making them look like medical offices, requesting the medical histories of its clients, performing pregnancy tests and sonograms, estimating gestational age, and evaluating fetal health,” according to a 2017 decision where LaSalle blocked subpoenas by his office.

The court ruled that his request infringed on the first amendment rights of the nonprofit centers without being “sufficiently tailored to serve the compelling investigative purpose for which it was issued” without making any judgements about abortion itself. 

In another case that has gotten LaSalle heat from libs, he upheld the search of a vehicle by police in which they found a weapon, to which some liberals objected.

“Neither the illegal search nor the ambiguous waiver [of the suspects ability to appeal] troubled Justice LaSalle,” reads a letter sent to Hochul earlier this month from dozens of law school professors opposed to LaSalle’s nomination. 

Labor leaders have also pointed to a 2015 case allowing Cablevision to sue union leaders who criticized its response to Hurricane Sandy, despite long standing legal protections aimed at protecting organized labor.

“If you had to pigeonhole him, again – it’s very unfair – I would call him a moderate,” said John Buonora, an adjunct professor at Touro University who has known LaSalle for decades, said of criticism of a handful of decisions involving LaSalle.

“Sometimes people read too much into decisions, as opposed to trying to understand why decisions were made the way they were made,” he added.

While LaSalle may be too centrist or business-friendly for some Democrats lawmakers, his supporters say he is more than liberal enough for them. 

“This is a historic appointment which culminates a life committed to an unwavering advocacy for civil rights. I know firsthand because I stood shoulder to shoulder with him for many years on Long Island when we were fighting for the rights of the Latino and Black communities,” said Tracey Edwards, Long Island Director of the NAACP New York State Conference.

But LaSalle supporters are especially leaning on his ethnic identity while defending him amid the growing criticism.

“Gov. Hochul’s nomination of Hon. Hector D. LaSalle to be Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals is a clear indicator of her consistent effort to elevate diverse voices to leadership roles in our State’s court system,” Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, said. 

Hochul needs 32 senators in the 63-member chamber to support the nomination, but nine of 43 Democrats already say they will vote against the former Long Island prosecutor.

If more than 11 Democrats buck Hochul, she will need Republican votes to get LaSalle approved by a majority of the full chamber if his nomination somehow gets through the Judiciary Committee.

Key players in the nomination process like state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Judiciary Committee Chair Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) have yet to say how they might vote.

But powerful labor unions like the AFL-CIO and 32BJ announced their opposition to LaSalle as the ideological tenor of the court hangs in the balance.

Progressives are also emboldened to make a stand against LaSalle after putting up little resistance to former Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas getting named by disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the court despite criticism that her prosecutorial record would push the Court of Appeals to the right.

Former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who unexpectedly resigned months ago amid an ethics probe, faced criticism for years over the rightward movement of the court despite New York’s reputation as a progressive stronghold.

Some Democrats had hoped that her downfall might lead to a chief judge who would push the state judiciary in a more progressive direction at a time when the US Supreme Court remains firmly in conservative hands.

“The Court of Appeals can and should act as a bulwark against such federal attacks, protecting New Yorkers and defending the rule of law. But under Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, it has done neither,” reads an August letter to Hochul from progressive advocacy groups.

LaSalle was one of seven candidates for the chief judge job picked by a panel empowered by state law to screen potential jurists for gubernatorial nomination.

Some Republicans, however, might be more receptive to his legal track record than their progressive counterparts, especially considering how Hochul could nominate someone more to the left if LaSalle’s nomination failed to get approved.

But some members of the GOP Senate minority are hardly in a rush to help Hochul out while leaving the option open.

“I will have to review his background and reserve judgment. But so far from what I am hearing, he doesn’t appear to be qualified for the position,” state Sen. George Borello (R-Jamestown) told The Post.

“Will I vote for him? I don’t know. It’s too early to tell,” state Sen. Pat Gallivan (R-Elma) said of his own stance on the nomination. “I don’t view this as a Republican or Democratic vote … we want to make sure the individual is qualified for the job.”

Republican Minority Leader Robert Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) could not be reached for comment Friday about whether he might be open to urging members of his conference to support LaSalle for chief judge.

Hochul told reporters Friday she is sticking with LaSalle despite the growing backlash and increasing likelihood that she will have to court Republicans in January to support the embattled nomination.

“I’m standing with him. I’m proud of this selection,” Hochul said at an upstate press briefing. “And I encourage everyone to give him the fair hearing that he’s entitled to.”