Sotomayor Wins Republicans' Backing

She's shown 'judicial temperament': statement

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 17, 2009 12:17 PM CDT

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Sotomayor Wins Republicans' Backing — Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee gather on the final day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 16, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Richard Lugar said today he’ll back Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court bid, making him the first GOP senator to do so, the Washington Post reports. Mel Martinez of Florida, the chamber's sole Republican Latino, quickly followed suit. “Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination hearing,” Lugar, an ally of President Obama's from his days in the Senate, said in a statement. Later in the day, Olympia Snowe of Maine climbed aboard.

"Judge Sotomayor's rise to the Supreme Court is testimony to the fact that the American dream continues to be attainable," said Martinez. Said Snowe: "I was pleased that Judge Sotomayor repeatedly recognized in her responses this week that ‘the job of a judge is to apply the law’ rather than independently make policy."
(More Sonia Sotomayor stories.)

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