Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race on Tuesday delivered another shift in the state’s judicial balance, with Democratic-backed Chris Taylor defeating Republican-backed Maria Lazar to keep liberals firmly in control of the court. The win expands the liberal majority on the bench at a time when lawmakers and voters in the perennial battleground state are poised for more legal confrontations, including disputes that could touch congressional redistricting, union rights and election-related issues.
Taylor, a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, centered her campaign on abortion rights and framed the election around the judiciary’s priorities. In her victory speech, Taylor said: “Once again, Wisconsin showed the entire nation that we believe that the people should be at the center of government and the priority of our judiciary, not the billionaires, not the most powerful and privileged, but the people.”
The contest marked the fourth straight election victory for liberal candidates for the state’s Supreme Court dating back to 2020, according to the Associated Press account of the race. Liberals are now set to hold a majority on the court until at least 2030, reinforcing how judicial elections can become tightly linked to national political agendas even as the Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan.
Republicans portrayed the election as a loss that should galvanize their next steps, with Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming calling for the party to “stay united and continue fighting for our conservative values.” Democrats, by contrast, moved quickly to tighten their control of the court ahead of November elections in which they are seeking to keep the governor’s office and flip the state Legislature, where Republicans have held the majority since 2011.
The campaign messaging focused on abortion and on whether voters should trust the candidates to keep politics out of the courtroom. Taylor emphasized abortion rights, including an ad asserting that “abortion is on the ballot,” and she criticized Lazar for describing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as “very wise,” according to the AP report.
Lazar argued that Taylor would bring politics to the bench, accusing her of being a “radical, extreme legislator” and a “judicial activist,” while Taylor responded that Lazar would bring “an extreme, right-wing political agenda to the bench.” The AP also reported that Taylor faced a harder time getting her message out despite the one debate in the campaign, with Taylor raising more money and spending about nine times as much as Lazar on television ads, based on a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Beyond the campaign rhetoric, the court’s partisan control has already had concrete effects on disputes that could remain central in future cases. The liberal-controlled court has reversed several election-related rulings, including one that overturned a ban on absentee ballot drop boxes, and it ordered new legislative maps after taking control, fueling Democrats’ expectations that they could pursue further changes through the courts.
Taylor’s background also set up a clear contrast for voters on where she came from professionally and politically. Taylor has served as a judge since 2020 and previously spent 10 years as a Democrat representing Madison in the state Assembly, while Lazar has served as a judge since 2015 and earlier worked four years in the state Department of Justice under Republican attorney general Scott Walker—where she defended a law later found unconstitutional by a circuit court judge in December.
The open seat for the election resulted from the retirement of a conservative justice, and another conservative justice is set to retire next year, setting up the possibility of a 6-1 liberal court configuration if Taylor’s victory holds through the next vacancy. As the court’s decisions continue to affect election and governance questions, the outcome is expected to remain a focal point as Wisconsin prepares for future national political contests, including activity looking toward the 2028 presidential election.