Thread by @petersterne

She's calling in every political favor and spending all her political capital on this nomination, which is opposed by half the Dems in the state Senate, many reproductive rights orgs and most unions. She's turned it into the highest-profile fight since Cuomo's resignation.

https://twitter.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1614378523384483841

It makes no political sense to do this. Waging war on Senate Democratic leadership, organized labor, and reproductive rights orgs carries astronomical political risk, while withdrawing the LaSalle nomination carries almost none. So why insist on this fight?

I think the only real explanation is personal pique. She is offended that the state Senate would dare to reject her chosen nominee and views it as a threat to her power and independence. She's so convinced she's in the right that she refuses to back down.

How did we get to this point?

Nov. 23 - Commission on Judicial Nomination gives Hochul 7 possible candidates to nominate. 100+ progressive groups endorse 3 of those candidates, while warning 3 others (including LaSalle) are unacceptable. cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/…

Bar associations declare that 3 of the candidates are exceptionally qualified: LaSalle (who would be first Latino chief judge), Edwina Richardson-Mendelson (who would be first Black woman chief judge), and Abbe Gluck (celebrated Yale prof)

Progressives favor either Richardson-Mendelson, Gluck or Corey Stoughton (a public defender). But Latino bar associations lobby for LaSalle (the only Latino on the list & only former prosecutor), arguing that progressive critics are distorting his record.

Progressives encourage Hochul to pick Richardson-Mendelson, Gluck, or Stoughton to avoid a tough nomination fight. Dems in state Senate privately warn the governor that LaSalle doesn't have the votes to get confirmed by the Senate (at least without relying on Republican votes).

Dec 22 - Hochul announces that she is nominating LaSalle as chief judge. Prominent politicians and leaders of Latino political groups praise the pick.

Within hours, a number of progressive Dem Senators publicly declare they won't vote to confirm LaSalle. cityandstateny.com/policy/2022/12…

Public opposition to LaSalle starts with DSA but isn't confirmed to the far left. Within days, major labor unions & more moderate Senators come out against LaSalle. It's now impossible for LaSalle to be confirmed without Republican votes. cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/…

Given the overwhelming Democratic opposition to LaSalle's nomination, the obvious thing for Hochul to do is withdraw the nomination and nominate someone else (probably Richardson-Mendelson). That is what everyone expects her to do. cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/…

But Hochul refuses to withdraw the nomination, insisting that LaSalle's critics are distorting his judicial record. She says senators should hold formal hearings on the nomination and suggests they will come around to supporting the nomination once they hear from him.

Meanwhile, prominent Latino political consultant Luis Miranda (father of Hamilton's Lin-Manuel) and former City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito organize a campaign called "Latinos for LaSalle" to defend the judge's record and attack his critics.

In response, a group of progressive Latinx politicians & organizers who oppose LaSalle release a statement of their own, highlighting a generational and ideological split within the Latino political community. cityandstateny.com/politics/2023/…

Much of the legal community, including former judges, publicly defend LaSalle's judicial record, arguing that his rulings in favor of anti-abortion activists and against unions were highly technical and in line with the law. They say his critics are "politicizing" the nomination.

LaSalle's critics in the legal community, including public defenders and law professors, pointed out that the same argument was made in support of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Meanwhile, reproductive rights orgs & unions continued to oppose the nomination.

Jan 3 - Senate Judiciary Committee, which must approve any judicial nomination before it's voted on by the full Senate, is expanded from 15 members (10 Dem, 5 GOP) to 19 members (13 Dem, 6 GOP). Many of the new Dem members already said they oppose LaSalle. cityandstateny.com/politics/2023/…

This is another opportunity for Hochul to withdraw the nomination, now that it's clear LaSalle will not be approved by the Judiciary Committee. It would be embarrassing, but who could blame her for bowing to political reality?

Instead, Hochul triples down.

Hochul insists that the LaSalle nomination be brought to the floor so that the full Senate can vote on it, even if the Judiciary Committee rejects the nomination. This could allow LaSalle to be confirmed with support from Republicans, even though not enough Dems support him.

Senate Democratic leadership says they won't bring the vote to the floor for a full Senate vote if the Judiciary Committee rejects the nomination. But Hochul and her supporters insist the Senate must do so, setting up a battle over the state constitution. nysfocus.com/2023/01/06/hec…

Hochul has still stuck by LaSalle, even as dozens of reproductive rights groups & the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said they oppose him. When one union leader spoke at a rally against LaSalle, Hochul disinvited him from her State of the State address.

https://twitter.com/ZackFinkNews/status/1612559759823065091

Hochul has now turned this into a national political fight dividing the state's congressional delegation. Hakeem Jeffries, who recently replaced Pelosi as the top Dem in Congress, spoke in favor of LaSalle today, while AOC has called on the Senate to reject the nomination.

So Hochul has gone to war against state Senate leadership, organized labor, reproductive rights organizations, and liberal nonprofits in order to force the State Senate to bring LaSalle's nomination to the floor, all so he can be confirmed with GOP votes.

Hochul insists that LaSalle's critics are distorting his record & being unfair to him. But *even if that were true* would it really be worth burning so many bridges and alienating so many supporters just to ensure this powerful appellate judge gets a promotion?