WASHINGTON AP – Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor picked up more GOP support Wednesday in her drive toward near-certain Senate confirmation this week as the first Hispanic justice, even as a growing chorus of the vast majority of Republicans called her unfit for the bench.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., became the seventh Republican to announce he’ll vote for President Barack Obama’s nominee, saying he disagrees with some of her rulings and statements, but considers her a well-qualified jurist.