Support grows for U.S. high court nominee Sotomayor

Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor answers questions during her fourth and final day of testimony at her U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington July 16, 2009.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more Republicans broke ranks on Wednesday and backed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who seemed virtually certain of winning Senate approval as the first Hispanic on the highest U.S. court.

A vote by the 100-member and Democratic-led Senate was expected as early as Thursday, with the swearing-in shortly afterward.

Republican Senators Judd Gregg and Kit Bond announced their support during a second day of debate in the Senate on President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

Their support raised to eight the number of Republican senators who have said they plan to vote for the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge out of a total of 40 Republicans in the Senate.

"Her views and decisions, although strongly stated, are certainly not out of the mainstream of American jurisprudence or political thought," Gregg said.

"I will be proud for her, the community she represents and the 'American Dream' she shows possible," said Bond.

Sotomayor rose from poverty to be educated at the finest U.S. universities and went on to a distinguished law career. A federal judge for the past 17 years, she would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman ever on the Supreme Court, established in 1789.

Based on private head counts and public declarations, Senate aides predicted Sotomayor would win approval comfortably, with between 60 and 70 votes.

She would replace David Souter, who retired from the high court this year, but is not expected to change the balance on the bench. Souter sided with the liberal wing of the court, which in recent years has often issued 5-4 ruling in favor of conservatives.

Sotomayor is viewed by supporters as a moderate who rules strictly by the law. Critics see her as a liberal who allows personal feelings to influence her decisions.

(Editing by Chris Wilson)