Hutchison will vote ‘nay' on Sotomayor
July 29, 2009
WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced Tuesday that she would oppose confirmation for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the jurist's nomination to the full Senate for confirmation next week.
Written by STEWART M. POWELL , The Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announced Tuesday that she would oppose confirmation for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the jurist's nomination to the full Senate for confirmation next week.
Hutchison, who had opposed Sotomayor's elevation to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1998, said the New York judge's position on the Second Amendment raised the possibility that she might not support an individual right to bear arms .
The senator also expressed concern about Sotomayor's statement at a Duke University law school forum four years ago that legal “policy” was made by federal appeals courts.
“I believe judges should interpret the law, not make it,” Hutchison said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
The four-term senator announced her position as she prepares to challenge Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in Texas' primary next March, a contest where conservative credentials and gun ownership rights could be issues.
A statewide poll taken in mid-July by Rasmussen Reports shows Perry leading Hutchison 46 percent to 36 percent .
Hutchison tried to allay criticism that opposing Sotomayor might alienate Hispanic and women voters who could be crucial to victory in her primary fight with Perry. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the third woman to serve on the high court and the first Hispanic.
“Thirty percent of the federal judges I have selected for nomination for Texas are Hispanic,” Hutchison said. “I will continue to support the most qualified judges irrespective or race or gender.”
Kirsten Gray, the state Democratic Party's communications director, said Hutchison's opposition to Sotomayor shows that Republican primary politics were overtaking Hutchison's “ability to do the right thing for Texans,” adding: “You can bet every move that Sen. Hutchison makes has her race against Gov. Perry in mind.”
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