Congratulations, Sonia Sotomayor!

The Bronx-born judge on Thursday was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 68 to 31 to be the nation’s next Supreme Court judge; nine Republicans joined Democrats in approving her. She will replace retiring Justice David Souter, and will become only the third woman on the bench, after Sandra Day O’Connor, retired, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sotomayor also becomes the first Hispanic ever to ascend to the high court. The 55-year-old New Yorker will be sworn into office on Saturday and will join the other eight justices for work beginning in just a month. 

"With this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court," President Obama said.

And mom Celina couldn’t be more proud!

"This is a great day," Celina Sotomayor, the 82-year-old who raised her two kids in a Bronx housing project, told the New York Daily News. "I am going to the confirmation … I wouldn’t miss it."

Women’s groups like EMILY’s List, Women Count and the National Women’s Law Center also heralded her confirmation as a big step for women. Said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the NWLC:

This historic moment reminds us how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go. There are still only two women on the highest court in the land. Women are still underrepresented at all levels of the judiciary. And every day, the hard-won rights that make a difference for women and girls are challenged in courts and threatened in legislatures around the country.

Congratulations to Sotomayor and her family! Here’s hoping she’ll make women around the country proud.