The top Republican in the New York state Senate is not ruling out some GOP lawmakers backing the confirmation of Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to lead the state Court of Appeals after many Democrats have signaled they can't support him. 

At the very least, Republicans want to speak with Judge Hector LaSalle. 

"I think potentially," Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt said when asked if Republicans could vote for the nominee. "I think we want to hear from him. We have members who want to speak with him too."

LaSalle's road to securing confirmation as the chief judge of the state Court of Appeals is increasingly rocky as Democrats — including Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris — have said they won't support his bid. 

Hochul nominated LaSalle last month to fill the chief judge role vacated by Janet DiFiore. If confirmed, he would be the first Latino to lead the court. 

Progressive advocates and labor unions have lobbied for voting against LaSalle, however, citing rulings in cases surrounding labor rights as well as a pregnancy crisis center.  

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Hoylman in an interview on Tuesday said a confirmation hearing will still be held for LaSalle, but acknowledged the opposition by Senate Democrats may be too difficult for him to overcome.  

Democrats hold a supermajority in the state Senate, and it's not clear if LaSalle's nomination could even pass through the Judiciary Committee. 

"I think our members are certainly more open to Judge LaSalle, at least hearing from him, compared to some of my colleagues," Ortt said. "Our conference believes he should get a fair hearing. Members should not come out before they have a chance to hear from, talk to him and say I'm not voting for him, full stop."

Relying on Republican votes in the Senate would be unusual and highly unlikely to happen. Typically, majority parties do not want to depend on parties out of power to help them pass legislation or nominations. 

A looming fight over LaSalle's confirmation would be a break from recent judicial nominations, which usually attracted little scrutiny. But progressives have grown restive over what they consider to be a court that has swung too far to the political right and has seen former prosecutors added to the bench. 

In recent days, Latinos for LaSalle, a group supporting his nomination, have urged it to move forward in the state Senate. 

New York Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs warned majority party lawmakers in the Senate this week they would appear obstructionist if LaSalle's nomination does carry forward, saying they would run the risk of being compared to Republican U.S. Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked President Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. 

The comparison was rebuked by a spokesman for the Senate Democrats, calling in unhelpful and untrue.