Gov. Kathy Hochul says she is looking ahead after her chief judge pick was rejected by the state Senate.

And with the budget deadline a month away, the governor says the issue will not distract her from negotiations with her fellow Democrats.

Hochul said Friday she is ready to turn the page on Hector LaSalle as she and state lawmakers head into critical negotiations on her proposed $227 Billion state budget.

What You Need To Know

  • Hochul says her chief judge pick being rejected will not district her from the budget

  • The governor said Friday a court ruling that her nomination of Hector LaSalle required a full floor vote in the state Senate proves her right

  • Hochul and lawmakers must negotiate a state budget by April 1

LaSalle, Hochul’s pick for Chief Judge of New York State, was rejected by Senate Democrats in a bruising battle that dragged out for months in Albany.

“My personal feelings of disappointment do not play at all in how I go forth from here,” Hochul told NY1 at an unrelated event in Manhattan Friday. “The people of New York expect me to keep doing my job, which I will always do. Looking to find ways in our budget to increase affordability, to keep down the tax burden and for outstanding services. So I am focused on the budget right now.”

Lasalle was rejected by a state Senate committee last month. The Democratic majority then refused to bring that nomination to the full state Senate for a vote.

After a lawsuit was filed, demanding a full floor vote, state Senate Democrats reversed course and opted to hold a vote last week. LaSalle was ultimately rejected again.

Democratic leadership in the state Senate maintain that the full floor vote was unnecessary.

“What I think this really does, I think it talks to the committee process and why that matters,” state Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Westchester Democrat, told reporters shortly after the vote last week. “I mean nothing different happened on the floor than happened in committee. And that’s why we have a committee process. And that’s why we are so clear that our rules make sense.”

Despite the vote, a Suffolk County judge still ruled that the state Senate violated the constitution.

“I had said that this is an outstanding candidate. I still believe he was the best candidate to run the courts. And the process played out where we were correct in our assessment that it had to be decided by the entire Senate, not by a committee. That precedent will never be set. It goes to the floor of the Senate,” Hochul said.

The court case may be appealed, and state leaders must now come together and negotiate a budget by April 1.

Hochul is now back to square one on the chief judge pick. A commission will come up with a list of seven names, the governor will choose a nominee from that list, and then the state Senate must approve or reject that nominee in their advice and consent role.