NY GOP leaders say Gov. Hochul pick Hector LaSalle deserves fair shot as state’s chief judge

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle to be the state’s top judge is hanging over the state capital like a cloud as the legislative session begins.

Amid mounting pushback from her fellow Democrats, Hochul’s pick received some unexpected support from across the aisle as Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) said Tuesday that LaSalle should be given a fair shot.

“Judge LaSalle’s legal background, judicial experience and reputation should be enough to warrant an opportunity to be heard by the Senate,” Ortt tweeted. “Our conference looks forward to hearing more from Judge LaSalle and considering his appointment with an open mind.”

His comments come after labor leaders and more than a dozen Dems in the Senate have publicly voiced opposition to confirming LaSalle to lead the Court of Appeals and serve as head administrator for the sprawling statewide court system, arguing that he is too conservative.

Democrats hold a supermajority in the 63-seat Senate, where LaSalle’s nomination must be confirmed. Hochul would need Republican votes for the pick to pass.

The governor’s refusal to back down has prompted some less-than-kind comparisons to her predecessor, former governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Making a deal with Republicans, having her minions attack progressives and angering the labor movement— Hochul is more and more like Cuomo everyday,” one Democratic source said.

LaSalle, who would be the first Latino to lead the state’s court system, is currently the presiding justice of the state’s 2nd Appellate Division, which handles appeals from state courts in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.

The Suffolk County native isn’t without his backers.

Former governor David Paterson said in a statement Tuesday that opposition to LaSalle’s nomination “seems arbitrary and less than fair.”

“Senators have every right to question the nominee and to raise questions about their judicial philosophy, but they should not have a right to deny the people of the state of New York the best possible candidate,” he said in calling on LaSalle to be confirmed.

Last week, nearly two dozen former justices who have worked with LaSalle penned a letter to top lawmakers saying they “wholeheartedly support without reservation” his nomination.

However, opponents, including politically powerful labor leaders, have come out in force against LaSalle over a 2015 opinion enabling now-defunct Cablevision to sue union heads for criticizing the company’s response to Hurricane Sandy and other rulings. Others have pushed back over his past work as a prosecutor.

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

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

“New Yorkers have been promised a break from the past administration, but Hector LaSalle’s background suggests that he would instead continue this tradition of Cuomoism to the detriment of the public,” said Nick Encalada-Malinowski, civil rights campaign director with VOCAL-NY, a criminal justice advocacy group.

Hochul has so far stood by her choice, calling LaSalle a “highly qualified, experienced, and respected jurist.”

“I expect that the Senate will fulfill their constitutional duties and engage in a robust, fair process,” the governor said in a statement late last week.