Washington ? Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen won Senate confirmation as a federal appeals judge Wednesday after a ferocious four-year battle, a personal triumph that also marked a victory for President Bush in his drive to install conservatives on the nation’s highest courts.

The 55-43 vote was largely along party lines, and made the 50-year-old jurist the first of Bush’s long-blocked nominees to win approval under a newly minted agreement by Senate centrists meant to end years of partisan gridlock.

“We cannot stop with this single step,” Majority Leader Bill Frist said in a written statement soon after the vote. The Tennessee Republican resurrected a threat to strip Democrats of their right to filibuster Bush’s picks for the nation’s highest courts if they violate the 2-day-old accord.

“We must give fair up-or-down votes to other previously blocked nominees,” he said. “It is the only way to close this miserable and unprecedented chapter in Senate history.”

Democratic leader Harry Reid said he was “ready to put all this behind us and move on.”

“I would hope the president would move on,” he added later at a news conference in which Democratic leaders urged renewed attention to the economy, health care, defense and other issues.

In a statement issued at the White House, Bush said Owen “has served with distinction on the Supreme Court of Texas, has demonstrated that she strictly interprets the law and brings a wealth of experience and expertise” to the appeals court.

“I urge the Senate to build on this progress and provide my judicial nominees the up-or-down votes they deserve.”

Frist was eager to comply. He told reporters he intended to seek votes early next month for Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, two other nominees long blocked by Democrats but now protected by Monday night’s bipartisan agreement. Aides said it was possible the two appointments would be the first issues brought before the Senate after an upcoming weeklong recess.

In addition, the Senate’s top Republican said he would press for votes on the nominations of William Myers and Henry Saad – two of the president’s selections who were not guaranteed final votes in the centrists’ deal.

Republican officials also said they expected Frist to push for votes on Brett Kavanaugh and William Haynes. Both are appeals court nominees strongly opposed by Democrats and have yet to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Beyond that, there is a widespread expectation that one or more Supreme Court vacancies will occur in the coming months, any one of which has the potential to reignite partisan warfare over the future of the judiciary.