Gov. Kathy Hochul is primed to announce her first nominee to the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. She has a consequential choice to make: whether to appoint another conservative jurist, like her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, or demonstrate her progressive bona fides by picking a public defender or civil rights lawyer.

Most conversations about judges focus on the federal courts. Conservatives have made controlling the federal judiciary a political priority since at least the Reagan Era. Democrats have been slower to appreciate the courts' importance, but have recently made confirming progressive judges a priority too. As a result, federal courts are now a major topic of political debate.