It's hard to miss the historic moment for New Yorkers and for Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is often introduced at public events as the first woman to serve as governor of the Empire State.

Hochul on Sunday became the first woman sworn into the office for a full term, less than a year and a half after becoming the first woman to ascend to the office in the wake of Andrew Cuomo's scandal-induced resignation. Hochul is no longer an accidental governor; she's earned the job for the next four years from voters at the ballot box.

But even before Hochul raised her hand to be sworn in, she's already facing a series of challenges to her power in Albany. And those challenges are coming from members of her own party.

Democrats in the state Senate, with the backing of progressive advocates, have signaled they will not vote to confirm her choice to lead New York's top court, Hector LaSalle. Lawmakers before the end of 2022 approved a $32,000 pay raise for themselves, with Hochul seemingly extracting nothing from the measure's passage.

And Hochul continues to face calls from progressives she sack Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs, a holdover from the Cuomo years, but has been a steadfast ally for her.

The governor is also working to re-stock key jobs in her administration this year. She must find a new top budget advisor and a new health commissioner following the post-election resignations of Robert Mujica and Mary Bassett.

More broadly, Hochul is preparing a state budget proposal in the coming weeks ahead of what could be a potential economic downturn for the country, one that could hit New York's finances hard and upend plans to fulfill funding promises for schools.

She is facing calls to help rebuild a health care system that has struggled amid the ongoing COVID pandemic as hospital networks across upstate New York struggle with staffing shortages and compounding financial woes.

There are questions, too, over how to help revive the economy of New York City, which has struggled to bring jobs back to the five boroughs. Hochul's hometown of Buffalo, too, was brought to standstill following a generational blizzard that killed dozens in western New York.

And she will likely continue to be pressured from Republicans as well as by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to make changes to criminal justice laws that largely ended cash bail and overhauled evidentiary discovery measures.

Hochul has kept her plans for the new year close to the vest. She's signaled plans to boost housing affordability, a problem that has been made worse by the pandemic.

One of the biggest questions remains how Hochul will approach the state Legislature in order to get what she wants done. How a governor's relationship plays out with the Legislature can often make or break an administration.

Eliot Spitzer declared war on Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and publicly shamed Democrats in the state Assembly for not supporting his preferred choice for state comptroller. David Paterson, a former member of the state Senate, clashed with lawmakers over budget vetoes.

Andrew Cuomo sought to consolidate power in the executive branch of government, but used a mix of carrots and sticks to get what he wanted from legislators when it came time to make deal.

Cuomo's relationship with lawmakers badly soured in the years he was in office, and by the end a new crop of elected officials chaffed under his approach to politics and governing.

With Cuomo gone, lawmakers have sought to re-assert the power of the legislative branch. Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers, numbers that enable them to override vetoes by a governor should it come to that.

Hochul has pledged to be a different kind of governor, playing up her approach as being more collaborative with officials and with the mayor of New York. No screaming, no bullying.

"I represent the same people, the same places, and the same businesses that the mayor does, right?" Hochul said standing alongside Adams last month when announcing an effort to aid New York City's economy. "So, we have a reason to work like this to lift this city up."

Nevertheless, a struggle over power in Albany is playing itself out this month.

Tangibly, that big advantage has manifested itself in an effort to stop the confirmation of Hochul's choice for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals. LaSalle would be the first Latino judge to lead the court and oversee the court system in New York. And typically, these nominations and confirmations are little watched, with lawmakers serving as a veritable rubber stamp.

Grumbling, however, has built over the years. First it was the nominations of judges with backgrounds as prosecutors. Judge Madeline Singas was not the first former district attorney to be confirmed, but the progressive advocacy organizations that often lobby lawmakers began to take notice.

Singas joined a court that included Chief Judge Janet DiFiore (a Republican-turned Democrat former Westchester County DA) and Michael Garcia (a Republican former federal prosecutor).

Progressives began to pay more attention the court's rulings, which they felt sided far too often with law enforcement and with big business. At the federal level, the U.S. Supreme Court has a majority of its judges appointed by Republican presidents, further putting attention on the actions of the state courts in blue states.

And then came the ruling in May that struck down the redistricting maps drawn by Democrats in the Legislature. Progressives warned LaSalle's nomination, in particular, would be the final straw.

Last week, advocates pushed Hochul to make a different selection less than a week after the nomination and before a public hearing or meetings with lawmakers are held.

"We urge Gov. Hochul to withdraw the nomination and choose a unifying path forward by selecting one of the three excellent candidates on the list provided by the Commission on Judicial Nomination," said Peter Martin, the director of Judicial Accountability at the Center for Community Alternatives. "Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Abbe Gluck, and Corey Stoughton each have the administrative experience to lead our state’s court system, could return the Court of Appeals to national prominence, and have records that make clear they would stand up for New Yorkers in the face of an increasingly hostile, right-wing Supreme Court.”

LaSalle has his supporters, and Hochul has insisted she will stand by him amid the unusual effort to force her into making a different pick. Latinos for LaSalle, a group that includes a retired police officer, attorneys and business leaders, called for the nomination to proceed.

"Throughout his career, LaSalle has been a fair administrator of justice, as numerous, highly respected experts and jurists like Jonathan Lippman have emphasized," the group said. "Drawing conclusions about his positions based on decisions he made on procedures is unfair and all the more reason why hearings —where the public can hear directly from LaSalle— must take place."

The outcome of the LaSalle nomination could set the relationship for Hochul and lawmakers going forward for the remainder of the year, if not the next four years.

Will lawmakers feel emboldened enough to challenge Hochul on other aspects of presumed gubernatorial power? A test could be coming soon in the state budget talks.

Already, progressives have called for further increasing taxes on wealthy New Yorkers this year in order to increase revenue. They want more funding for schools, child care and for people not covered under unemployment benefits like undocumented New Yorkers.

Hochul has said she won't propose a budget with tax increases.

"I don't believe that raising taxes in a time in which we just cut taxes makes sense," she said in December, adding, "We just did that a year ago. I'm not going to turn around [and] say 'we're raising your taxes.' I don't foresee that."