Kathy Hochul’s horrible nomination for chief judge of New York’s top court shot down by NY senate Democrats

Given what a terrible pick this was in the first place, this is an excellent development:

Democrats rejected Gov. Hochul’s choice to serve as the state’s top jurist Wednesday following an at-times testy confirmation hearing and weeks of public opposition to the pick.

A total of 10 Dems on the 19-member Senate Judiciary Committee voted against advancing the nomination of Hector LaSalle to be the chief judge of the Court of Appeals to a full floor vote. . .

The State Senate has never rejected a governor’s pick for chief judge since the current nomination system has been in place since the 1970s.

LaSalle spent much of the nearly five-hour hearing defending his record, saying early on he wanted to “set the record straight” as he countered claims that he’s too conservative to be New York’s next top judge. . . .

“You do not come across as a rightwing conservative nut,” Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) told LaSalle during the hearing as Republicans overall appeared more open to his confirmation.

OK then.

Hochul is apparently making noises about suing the senate committee, to force the nomination to the floor.

I assume the basic problem with the New York Democratic party is that a lot of its leadership is in the pocket of the financial industry.

I’ve heard some speculation that if the artist currently known as George Santos is forced to resign somehow, Hochul may well pick a Republican to replace him. A moderate one, naturally.

If I know anything about these writers, David Brooks should be double checking his resume about now for any “embellishments.” ETA: Hochul would be forced to call a special election, so there goes that plot line. And it was such a good one too.

. . . Scott flags this amazing performance. Hochul seems like the political equivalent of somebody in the stands who won a Be Centerfielder For the Mets For a Day contest.