 During 1998 , several Hispanic organizations organized a petition drive in New York State , generating hundreds of signatures from New Yorkers to try to convince New York Republican senator Al D 'Amato to push the Senate leadership to bring Sotomayor 's nomination to a vote . D 'Amato , a backer of Sotomayor to begin with and additionally concerned about being up for re @-@ election that year , helped move Republican leadership . Her nomination had been pending for over a year when Majority Leader Trent Lott scheduled the vote . With complete Democratic support , and support from 25 Republican senators including Judiciary chair Orrin Hatch , Sotomayor was confirmed on October 2 , 1998 , by a 67 – 29 vote . She received her commission on October 7 . The confirmation experience left Sotomayor somewhat angry ; she said shortly afterwards that during the hearings , Republicans had assumed her political beliefs based on her being a Latina : " That series of questions , I think , were symbolic of a set of expectations that some people had [ that ] I must be liberal . It is stereotyping , and stereotyping is perhaps the most insidious of all problems in our society today . " 
