Topeka ? After tough questioning at the committee stage, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s appointee to the Court of Appeals faces her final confirmation vote before the Senate Wednesday.

In hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Sen. Jeff King, a Republican from Independence, pressed nominee Kathryn Gardner on her qualifications and her judicial philosophy, asserting that her record left little indication of her positions on controversial issues or interpretation of the law.

Gardner responded that she believes in judicial restraint and that judges should rule according to existing law rather than using their judgments to force policy changes.

Gardner has served as the law clerk for U.S. District Judge Sam Crow since 2000 after spending 12 years as a practicing lawyer in Wichita and two years as an assistant state attorney general.

King said he expects many questions and comments about Gardner on the Senate floor, but declined to speculate on the final result.

“We said beforehand that this would be the most public and rigorous examination of a Court of Appeals nominee in state history, and I think we’ve proved that to be correct,” King said.

Senate Minority Leader Democrat Anthony Hensley said he would vote against her, but he was not sure if many other senators would also be opposed.

“I don’t think she’s qualified. I don’t think she has the experience to be an appellate court judge,” Hensley said.

According to the documents Gardner submitted to the Senate along with her application, she primarily litigated and authored law papers on contract and employment disputes through her career. But she also presented work on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which made it easier for people to opt out of government regulations on religious grounds, and the legalities of homeschooling children, which she wrote in 2001 was “once the backbone of education in this country.”

Gardner also disclosed that she both taught and studied at seminars organized by the conservative law group Alliance Defending Freedom. The Alliance Defending Freedom did not respond to requests for comment, but the group’s website describes it as “an alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.” The site says the group advocates and litigates against “radical anti-Christian groups,” spreading what it calls the “myth” of the separation of church and state.