WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Questions surrounding Judge Sonia Sotomayor's past speeches generated more controversy in the final day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings Thursday, as Democrats again called her a mainstream jurist and Republicans portrayed her as a liberal activist likely to legislate from the bench.



Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor greets Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Thursday.



One GOP senator said Sotomayor's most controversial speeches "bug the hell out of me," an expression of frustration as Republicans tried -- with little success -- to get Sotomayor to reveal more about her personal views in her fourth and final day of questioning.



GOP critics also summoned New Haven, Connecticut, firefighter Frank Ricci, who was the lead plaintiff in perhaps the most controversial case in Sotomayor's appellate career. Ricci testified that her 2008 rejection of his reverse discrimination claim had undermined the concept of a merit-based civil service system.



In a potential sign of Sotomayor's strong political momentum, however, Senate Republicans indicated they do not intend to filibuster her nomination on the Senate floor. They also indicated their belief that the full Senate would vote on her nomination before breaking for its August recess.



Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said he plans to put a confirmation vote for Sotomayor on the committee's calendar for next Tuesday.



The committee's questions once again touched on a range of hot-button issues, including gun control, abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, and the role of international law in American jurisprudence.



"I think you're a walking, talking example of the best part of the United States of America," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, told Sotomayor. "It is my belief that you are going to be a great Supreme Court justice."



South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was less complimentary, telling Sotomayor that she has "said some things that have bugged the hell out of me," but he quickly conceded that her judicial record has "been generally in the mainstream."



"Your speeches are disturbing, particularly to conservatives," Graham said. "Those speeches to me suggested gender and racial affiliations in a way that a lot of us wonder, will you take that line of thinking to the Supreme Court in these cases of first precedent."



But, Graham conceded, "to be honest with you, your record as a judge has not been radical by any means. ... You have, I think, consistently, as an advocate, took a point of view that was left of center."



Graham defended the importance of probing Sotomayor's political beliefs by highlighting the high court's 1955 landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated the desegregation of schools. The ruling was "instructive in the sense that the court pushed the country to do something politicians were not brave enough to do," he said.  Watch Graham talk about Sotomayor's record »



The personal views of Supreme Court justices matter, he argued, because "you're not going to find a law book that tells you" how to rule on contentious social issues such as same-sex marriage or whether there is a "fundamental" right to bear arms.



Sotomayor later fired back at the Republican line of questioning, asking Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, if he wanted a judge who pre-decided cases before hearing the evidence and facts.  Watch Sotomayor's record on discrimination »



"Would you want a judge or nominee who came in here and said, 'I agree with you, this is unconstitutional,' before I had a case before me?" Sotomayor said, adding: "I don't think that's a justice I can be."



She noted that the Supreme Court spends considerable time on cases, including Second Amendment cases involving gun control -- an issue Republicans have repeatedly emphasized during her confirmation hearings.



The National Rifle Association, unswayed by Sotomayor's assertion earlier in the week that she recognizes an individual right to bear arms, announced Thursday that it is opposed to her nomination.



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