Slate's Alex Sammon joins the program to discuss New York politics and how badly Kathy Hochul is doing as governor. Watch the Majority Report live Monday–Friday at 12 p.m. EST on YouTube OR listen via daily podcast at http://www.Majority.FM https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm #SamSeder #EmmaVigeland #MajorityReport #politics #news #progressive #leftist #democrats #liberal SUPPORT the show by becoming a member: http://www.jointhemajorityreport.com/ Download TMR's FREE app: http://www.majorityapp.com TMR MERCH: http://www.shop.majorityreportradio.com CHECK OUT MORE from the MR crew: Matt Binder DOOMED https://www.youtube.com/MattBinder Brandon Sutton DISCOURSE https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Emma Vigeland ESVN https://www.youtube.com/ESVNShow Matt Lech LEFT RECKONING https://www.youtube.com/LeftReckoning OTHER LINKS: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Facebook: http://facebook.com/MajorityReport Twitter: http://twitter.com/MajorityFM Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majorityreport.fm/ Check out more from the MR crew: Matt Binder DOOMED https://www.youtube.com/MattBinder Brandon Sutton THE DISCOURSE https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Emma Vigeland ESVN https://www.youtube.com/ESVNShow Matt Lech LEFT RECKONING https://www.youtube.com/LeftReckoning Image Credit, Marc A. Hermann https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/51831715687 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/ Image has been cropped and color has been altered. Alex Salmmon is back on the show. politics writer at slate. Alex thanks so much for coming on. Yeah I think so much for having me. Of course. So you're here to explain this Insanity in New York. Yesterday Hochul's nominee for the chief judge of the court of appeals in New York was actually rejected by the state Senate Judiciary Committee ten to nine. So very close margins there. and this is the latest development in this Saga that ranges from head-scratching on one end to infuriating on the other. I'm not sure if we can just go with both. Why not both? But let's start from the beginning. How did Hochul get to this point nominating this judge who's an anti-labor record anti-abortion record Hector LaSalle to be the top judge in New York state. That's a solidly blue state. Yeah well, it kind of starts with the chief judge of the court of appeals that's the top Court in New York Janet Difiore who is like a true died-in-the-wool Cuomo loyalist she announced that she was stepping down I think in August of 2022. So that was kind of a surprise her turn was not over it was you know. She was the subject of an Ethics investigation and promptly decided to step aside. So she was the head of this conservative block on the court there was a 4-3 conservative block. She steps aside. It's a huge opportunity for Hochul. I mean it was one of those things it was like an incredible windfall. totally unexpected. and a chance for her to like you know Turn the page on the Cuomo era to recalibrate New York politics and kind of reset this conservative majority on the state's top court. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D9czPdA4Zc