Former Governor David Patterson expressed doubt regarding New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision in selecting Hector LaSalle as the State’s top Judge he described the Governor’s decision as an “unforced error”. One of her predecessors recently said that key supporters of her reelection campaign objected to the selection.
During an interview with WABC Radio’s “Cat Roundtable,” Paterson stated, “it’s sort of an unforced error because a number of parties had complained about this nomination, even before she made the selection.”
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“The governor is putting in the highest court in New York … someone who a lot of individuals who helped her thought would not stand for even what the governor stands for,” he added. “It’s really kind of amazing that this whole thing happened.”
According to Paterson, Hochul’s choice to lead the state’s top court angered progressive and labor organizations that had supported her candidacy against Lee Zeldin in what turned out to be the closest New York governor’s election in decades.
“The unions, the Working Families Party, and other progressive forces really came together at the end to help the governor pull this out,” he noted.
“I think they did not take very kindly to her first major action after this to take a judge whose record apparently from their point of view on labor issues is not acceptable, and who is thought to be not really in favor of the rights that women have in New York right now.”
Paterson had earlier pleaded with Albany lawmakers to at the very least give LaSalle a hearing to defend his views and his suitability for the post.
LaSalle’s candidacy has received enough criticism from Democratic senators that Hochul will want their support if she wants to forward the choice.
After Eliot Spitzer’s resignation in 2008, Paterson, a former senior state senator in Albany and lieutenant governor, was elected governor and held the position until 2010.
