Sotomayor Vote Expected by the End of the Week

Last week, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced that he will be voting in favor of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

As the chair of the Republican Senate Conference and the third ranking Republican in the Senate, Alexander’s endorsement of Sotomayor is a strong one. He explained that he will support her even though he believes her judicial and political philosophy differs from his own.

“Courts were never intended to be political bodies composed of judges ‘on your side’ who would reliably tilt your way in controversial cases,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor. “Courts are supposed to do just the opposite: decide difficult cases with impartiality.”

With the addition of Alexander, now 6 Republicans have said they will support Sotomayor. If she is confirmed, they will help make her only the third female to sit on the high court and the first Hispanic. The other Republicans who have committed to vote in her favor are Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Mel Martinez of Florida.

As for the rest of the Republican Senators, twenty six have committed to vote no on Sotomayor’s nomination, while eight others remain undecided.

The full Senate vote is expected by the end of this week.