WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 13 to 6, on Tuesday to endorse the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, easing her path to likely confirmation as the first Hispanic member of the tribunals expected, all 12 Democrats on the judiciary panel voted for Judge Sotomayor, after praising her intellect, character and inspiring personal history. But among the seven Republicans on the committee, only Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted in favor. The committee action sends the nomination to the full Senate, where her confirmation by a comfortable margin seems to be assured. Some committee members who are far apart on the political spectrum agreed on one thing: In recent years, Supreme Court nominees have embraced the strategy of saying as little as possible about their views on issues, so as not to antagonize the senators. In casting his vote, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who heads the committee, said that when he was a trial lawyer, he always hoped to be in front of a judge who would “make up his or her mind based on the law, not on who the litigants are.” “And having reviewed her record, I know that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been that kind of judge,” Mr. Leahy said. “I have every confidence that she’ll be that kind of justice.” Republican critics of the judge expressed displeasure with her rulings as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as with some of her public comments. The rulings and comments show that she is a judge who is too “activist” and liberal and has too little commitment to the rights of gun owners, the critics complained. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the committee’s leading Republican, said just before the vote that he was compelled to oppose the nomination because in some important cases the judge’s decisions were “unacceptably short” and showed a “liberal, pro-government ideology against the individuals asserting their constitutional rights.” Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Mr. Sessions’ questioning of the nominee had been “sharp but fair.” Still, Mr. Schumer said, he was perplexed that anyone could accuse the nominee of being a liberal activist, since an examination of her record shows her to be a moderate. SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM