Dems formally reject Gov. Hochul’s chief judge pick in full floor vote a week after Republicans filed lawsuit

ALBANY — Judgment Day came Wednesday for Hector LaSalle, Gov. Hochul’s embattled chief judge pick, who was rejected again to lead the state’s high court, this time by a vote of the full Democrat-led Senate.

He lost the top spot on the Court of Appeals in a 39 to 20 vote against him.

The unprecedented rebuff follows weeks of conflict over LaSalle’s nomination that prompted questions about constitutional duty, a Republican-backed lawsuit and in-fighting among Dems.

LaSalle, first rejected by the chamber’s judiciary committee last month, failed to garner enough votes to lead the Court of Appeals.

However, Hochul, a Democrat, and supporters refused to accept that as a formal denial, arguing that Senate Dems failed to follow rules laid out in the state Constitution requiring a vote by the full chamber.

Complicating matters, Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Riverhead) filed a lawsuit last week seeking to force a floor vote.

“It’s time to put this matter to rest,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said in a statement announcing the vote would move to the floor.

It’s the first time in state history that a governor’s pick for chief judge has been rejected by lawmakers since the current process has been in place since 1977.

LaSalle, who would have been the state’s first Latino chief judge if confirmed, faced fierce pushback from a wide range of opponents who argued the former prosecutor’s judicial records showed him to be anti-union, anti-reproductive rights and overall too conservative for the post.

The committee vote last month followed a bitter public battle over LaSalle’s judicial record as progressive lawmakers, union leaders and other advocates vocally opposed his appointment.

LaSalle, who was in the chamber as lawmakers determined his fate, currently serves as the presiding justice of the 2nd Appellate Division in Brooklyn.

“Today will finally have occurred what I have said should happen from the very beginning: let the full Senate vote as an exercise of their responsibilities,” Hochul said following an event in Manhattan earlier Wednesday. “I think this is a good outcome to at least let it go to the floor of the Senate.”

While the governor repeatedly said she was weighing her options, her office never moved forward with suing the Senate to force a floor vote.

Instead, Palumbo, the ranking Republican on the judiciary committee, filed suit against the 10 Dems who rejected LaSalle last month.

The lawsuit also named Stewart-Cousins, who signed off on a letter to the governor notifying Hochul of the rejection.

A hearing in the case is still scheduled for Friday in Suffolk County Supreme Court.

Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Democrats had maintained that the state Constitution not only instructs that the governor get the “advice and consent” of the Senate on nominations but also grants each house in the Legislature the power to set its own rules.

Democrats, who hold a 42-seat supermajority in the chamber, increased the number of members serving on the Judiciary Committee to 19 from 15 earlier this year.

Among the new members added were three Dems who said they would not support LaSalle’s nomination.

LaSalle was one of seven candidates submitted to Hochul by the state’s Commission on Judicial Nomination following the sudden resignation of former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore last July.

Several lawmakers, including state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), the Senate judiciary chairman, called on the commission to include candidates with diverse backgrounds, such as civil rights attorneys, public defenders and tenant advocates, when compiling recommendations over the summer.

Opponents to LaSalle, including several labor groups, railed against LaSalle, pointing to past rulings seen as anti-union and arguing he was too conservative to serve as head administrator for the sprawling statewide court system.

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.

The Senate’s rejection on Wednesday restarts the process all over and Hochul must wait for the Commission on Judicial Nomination to send her a new short list of potential nominees.