Gov. Hochul defends LaSalle as Senate Dem leader Stewart-Cousins casts doubt on confirmation

ALBANY — The chances of Gov. Hochul’s pick to lead the Court of Appeals being confirmed by the state Senate are slim to none, according to the chamber’s top Democrat.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said Friday that she doesn’t see a path forward for Judge Hector LaSalle, chosen by Hochul to be the state’s next top judge, as a growing number of Senate Dems have voiced opposition to his appointment.

“I’ve had 14 members come out publicly and say they were not going to confirm the nominee and I’ve had a number tell me privately they’re not going to confirm the nominee,” Stewart-Cousins told Ben Max, host of the Max Politics podcast. “I do not see this ending in the way that the governor wished it would.

“The realities are that in my conference the numbers are not there,” she added.

The Senate historically has never rejected a governor’s choice for top judge.

Stewart-Cousins said that Democrats, who hold a 42-member supermajority in the 63-seat Senate, will go forward with a judiciary committee hearing and allow the process to play out as long as LaSalle “continues to be the nominee.”

Hochul said again on Friday that she has no intention of rescinding her pick.

“We will allow the process to continue,” she told reporters in Harlem. “I’ve selected the very best person. Hector LaSalle has an exceptional record. He’ll be the person that will bring a fractured court together. He’ll be fair, he’ll be just, and a review of his 5,000 cases will reveal that.”

Critics, including politically-powerful labor unions, criminal justice advocates and progressive lawmakers, have pushed back on LaSalle’s nomination. They argue he is too conservative and that his past work as a prosecutor makes him a poor choice to oversee the state’s sprawling court system.

Following the sudden resignation of former chief judge Janet DiFiore in July, several Dems in the Senate said they wanted to see someone with a public defender background appointed to the position.

The state’s top court has faced criticism in recent years as a quartet of conservative-leaning judges led by DiFiore dominated decisions from the seven-member panel.

LaSalle, who would be the first Latino chief judge in the Empire State if confirmed, was one of seven candidates submitted to Hochul by the state’s Commission on Judicial Nomination.

While a hearing has yet to be scheduled, Stewart-Cousins also defended a rule change approved on Wednesday that will expand the size of the chamber’s judiciary committee by four members.

Democrats upped the number of seats on the panel from 15 to 19, adding one Republicans and three Dems.

Stewart-Cousins said greater interest in judicial matters following several contentious Supreme Court decisions, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and other factors led to more members being interested in serving on the committee this year.

Republicans, however, questioned the timing of the change and Hochul on Friday called the increase “unprecedented.”

LaSalle has the backing of former judges who worked with him during his time as an associate judge and as the presiding justice of the state’s 2nd Appellate Division.

Earlier this week, the jurist also received some unexpected support when Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) said he should be given a fair shot, opening the door to Republicans potentially supporting his confirmation should it make it to a floor vote.

Hochul remained confident that LaSalle will be confirmed and seated by the Senate one way or another.

“He’ll go to the committee, even if it’s stacked [against him], he’ll have a hearing, it will go to the floor of the Senate,” she said. “Because that’s what the Constitution provides for.”