Gov. Kathy Hochul has a new choice to make for the state's chief judge after the Democratic-led state Senate last week rejected her nominee, Justice Hector LaSalle, to lead New York's sprawling court system. 

But despite the setback, Hochul indicated on Wednesday in Johnson City she won't be deviating from the process that led her to LaSalle. 

"I will always do what I did before and do in the future, and that is select the person I think is the best individual and the best person to lead an extraordinary court," Hochul said. 

The governor added she wants a new chief judge in order to oversee the Judiciary as the court system works to get back to its pre-pandemic conditions after a backlog from the initial closure and move to remote work. 

LaSalle's nomination, first announced in December, was immediately met with opposition from Hochul's fellow Democrats in the state Senate, progressive advocates and labor unions over his prior rulings on lower courts. 

The state Senate Judiciary Committee initially rejected the nomination in January, but a Republican-backed lawsuit to force a full floor vote led to Democrats putting LaSalle's nomination to the full chamber last week. He was voted down 20-39. 

LaSalle would have been the first Latino chief judge to serve as the state's chief judge. 

Democratic lawmakers in the state Senate have called for changing the "trajectory" of the state Court of Appeals, New York's top court after recent rulings progressives have opposed. 

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has said lawmakers in her conference also want to move forward with a new chief judge nominee. 

Hochul will select from a slate of seven candidates selected by a nominating commission composed of appointees of the state Legislature, governor and the Judiciary. A nominee will again be subject to Senate confirmation. 

The Republican lawsuit, filed by state Sen. Michael Palumbo, scored a victory this week after a state Supreme Court in Suffolk County determined a judicial candidate should be considered by the full Senate and not have a nomination ended by a committee vote.