Cathy Hochul talks about GOP lawsuit against Democrats over blocking her choice of judge

Really strange fellows.

She didn’t thank them for saving her from having to sue her own political party, but Gov. Kathy Hochul tacitly supported a lawsuit filed by a Republican against the Democrats who control the State Senate to force a vote for her candidacy for head of the judiciary. New York systems.

“Obviously the senator himself decided that the best way that could happen is to have it in court,” Hochul told The Post in Manhattan on Sunday. “So now we are going to wait and see what the courts decide.

“In the meantime, I’m working very hard with the Legislature to get a budget that meets the needs of New Yorkers,” she added.

“I’ve been saying all along that it’s very important that this judge’s nomination goes to the Senate,” Hochul said.

The comments are the latest sign of an informal alliance between Hochul and Republicans over her nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to head New York’s high court, as members of her own party continue to urge her to withdraw his candidacy in favor of someone more liberal.

Hochul said the State Senate Judiciary Committee does not have the power to formally dismiss LaSalle, who serves as an appellate judge in Brooklyn, by a vote of 10 to 9 last month, leaving her options open when it comes to going to court.

Republican Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-Suffolk) denies that he colluded with Hochul in a lawsuit alleging State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(D-Yonkers) and Democratic committee members who voted v. LaSalle, “unconstitutionally denied him and other legislators the right to vote on the nominee.”

“It’s embarrassing, but not surprising, that Senate Republicans don’t have a basic understanding of the law or the constitution,” Stewart-Cousins ​​spokesman Mike Murphy said last week of Palumbo’s lawsuit.

A hearing is scheduled for February 17 in Suffolk County Superior Court on Long Island.

The ongoing fight for LaSalle is one of several areas of ongoing friction between Hochul and the political left following her 53% to 47% victory over Republican Lee Zeldin in the next gubernatorial election in a generation.

Hochul, who is the first governor to be rejected by the Judiciary Committee, has angered progressives in recent weeks by pushing for changes to bail laws along with an attempt to expand charter schools in New York with a budget due April 1. .

Other issues requiring political sophistication in the coming weeks include pending state decisions on downstate casino locations and efforts to promote housing through proposals such as extending a controversial tax credit that appears to benefit some of the her biggest campaign sponsors.

LaSalle will become the first Hispanic to lead the state’s judiciary if he somehow overcomes opposition from Democrats who want to push the Court of Appeals to the left.

If the Republicans manage to get the 63-member State Senate to vote for LaSalle, Hochul could win a major victory in the unlikely event that LaSalle gets enough votes from a 42-member Democratic majority for confirmation.

“This lawsuit fits and he wins,” former Democratic Gov. David Paterson said over the weekend.