 Sotomayor had wanted to become a judge since she was in elementary school , and in 1991 she was recommended for a spot by Democratic New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan . Moynihan had an unusual bipartisan arrangement with his fellow New York senator , Republican Al D 'Amato , whereby he would get to choose roughly one out of every four New York district court seats even though a Republican was in the White House . Moynihan also wanted to fulfill a public promise he had made to get a Hispanic judge appointed for New York . When Moynihan 's staff recommended her to him , they said " Have we got a judge for you ! " Moynihan identified with her socio @-@ economic and academic background and became convinced she would become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice . D 'Amato became an enthusiastic backer of Sotomayor , who was seen as politically centrist at the time . Of the impending drop in salary from private practice , Sotomayor said : " I 've never wanted to get adjusted to my income because I knew I wanted to go back to public service . And in comparison to what my mother earns and how I was raised , it 's not modest at all . " 
