For the first time since 2019 and 2020, a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for election in back-to-back years, as liberal Judge Chris Taylor and conservative Judge Maria Lazar seek a 10-year term on the state’s highest court in the April 7 election.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court elections this decade have garnered national attention, stemming from 2023 when the ideology of the state’s highest court flipped to a 4-3 liberal majority for the first time in 15 years. Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in an 11-point victory. Abortion laws and Wisconsin’s legislative maps were key issues during the campaign and became a driving factor in Protasiewicz’s victory.
The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election became the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history, with more than $100 million in spending. The liberal majority on the court was retained after Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate, defeated conservative Judge Brad Schimel, a former Waukesha County Judge, former attorney general, and interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, by a 10-point margin. Crawford replaced the retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley on the court.
Crawford’s victory in early 2025 showed a shift compared to when President Donald Trump flipped the state in a narrow contest in the November 2024 election. While Trump won the state, the election resulted in a split-ticket vote, as Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin was reelected to a third term.
Wisconsin’s 2026 Supreme Court election serves as a test for the electorate environment, which showed a victory for Democrats nationwide in 2025, as seen in the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, and a victory for Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Additionally, the fight between states regarding gerrymandering culminated in Proposition 50 passing in California.
Due to these factors, this election will be crucial for both parties. Incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley, one of three conservative justices on the court, decided not to run for another term.
A Taylor victory would further cement the liberal majority on the court with a 5-2 majority. A victory for Lazar would retain the narrow 4-3 liberal majority.
The most recent Marquette University Law School Poll found that two-thirds of registered voters have not decided who they will vote for in the April 7 election. Decided voters favor Taylor with 17%, while Lazar has 12%. Likely voters also favor Taylor by 22% compared to Lazar’s 15%, but the 62% majority remains undecided.
Judge Chris Taylor
Taylor announced on May 20, 2025, that she was running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. As the liberal candidate in the race, Taylor is vying to become the fourth consecutive liberal judge elected to the state’s highest court, following Crawford’s win in 2025, Protasiewicz’s in 2023 and Chief Justice Jill Karofsky’s in 2020.
“As an attorney, public servant, and now as a judge, I’ve always been committed to making sure everyone is able to access our justice system,” said Taylor in a statement for her campaign website. “Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court must be fair, independent, and impartial. Everyone who comes before the court deserves to be heard, respected, and treated equally – that’s exactly what I’ll do as a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice.”
Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 and her juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1995.
Before announcing her bid for the state’s supreme court, Taylor has been a judge for the 4th District of the Wisconsin Appeals Court since 2023, representing 24 counties in central, southern and southwestern Wisconsin. Before 2023, Taylor served on the Dane County Circuit Court after Gov. Tony Evers appointed her to the court in 2020 to replace then justice-elect Karofsky, according to the Associated Press.
For nine years, Taylor represented the 76th District in the Wisconsin State Assembly, which covers part of Madison. She began her life in public service as an attorney and became the policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Taylor has been an outspoken advocate for abortion rights, health care access, victims’ rights, such as protections for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors, and gun control laws aimed at enhancing public safety.
Taylor bolsters endorsements from all four liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices: Crawford, Rebecca Dallet, Karofsky, Protasiewicz and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler. In addition to the justices, she has an endorsement from Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
The liberal judge has been endorsed by over 150 current and retired circuit court judges, municipal court judges, and Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges across the state, according to her website.
In Taylor’s latest campaign finance report, her campaign raised over $820,000 from the beginning of the new year until Feb. 2. The 4th District of Appeals judge has now raised more than $3.4 million after she reported raising roughly $2.6 million from her campaign launch in May until Dec. 31.
Judge Maria Lazar
Lazar announced on Oct. 1, 2025, that she was running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In her campaign literature, Lazar states she is running to “restore fairness, independence, and integrity” to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, contrasting her judicial background with that of her opponent, saying she is neither a career politician nor a member of an elected legislature. Lazar emphasizes her commitment to judicial independence and her belief that the state’s judiciary should focus on the law rather than “partisan politics.”
Lazar earned her bachelor’s degree from Mount Mary College in 1986 and her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989.
Lazar currently serves on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District II, a post she has held since 2022 after seven years on the Waukesha County Circuit Court. Prior to her time on the Court of Appeals, Lazar was first elected to the Waukesha County Circuit Court in 2015, where she presided over a range of civil and criminal cases, according to her campaign website.
Before her time at the Waukesha County Circuit Court, Lazar was the Assistant Attorney General for the Wisconsin Department of Justice under Republican leadership from 2010 to 2015. Her tenure included work on high-profile state legal matters, such as defending the 2011 collective bargaining law known as Act 10 and redistricting
She began her legal career with two decades in private legal practice, specializing in civil litigation, before moving into public service.
Lazar is self-described as an originalist, a theory that laws, including the Constitution, should be interpreted in the original meaning of the law at the time of its adoption. Originalism is a contrast to constitutionalists who believe that the meaning of laws changes over time, according to the National Constitution Center.
Though Wisconsin Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan, Lazar’s campaign has drawn financial support and endorsements from conservative groups and donors. Among these endorsements are Wisconsin Congressmen Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Bryan Steil (WI-01), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), and Tony Wied (WI-08), according to WisPolitics.
In Lazar’s latest campaign finance report, her campaign has raised just over $189,900 from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2. The 2nd District of Appeals judge reported she raised roughly $197,000 from the time of her campaign launch through Dec. 31, 2025.
Lazar and Taylor are set to have a debate on March 25 from 7-8 p.m., hosted by WISN 12.