Liberal candidate Chris Taylor won election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court April 7, expanding the court’s liberal majority in a closely watched race.
Taylor defeated conservative candidate Maria Lazar with about 60.7% of the vote to 39.2%, with roughly 69% of ballots counted as of 10:15 p.m. Eastern. The Associated Press called the race at 6:36 p.m.
The result increases the court’s liberal majority to 5-2, up from the 4-3 split that has been in place since 2023.
The race was for an open 10-year term after conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley chose not to seek reelection. Bradley said in an August 2025 announcement that she believed “the best path for me to rebuild the conservative movement and fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.” Her term ends July 31.
Taylor, 57, is a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals based in Madison. She previously served nine years in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Democratic lawmaker and worked as public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers appointed her to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2020, and she ran unopposed for the Court of Appeals in 2023.
Lazar, also a Court of Appeals judge, took office in 2022. She previously served as a lead trial attorney in the Wisconsin Department of Justice under Republican Gov. Scott Walker, where she defended the state’s redistricting maps, voter ID law, and the governor’s signature Act 10 law curbing public union powers.
Taylor centered her campaign on abortion and voting rights and held a significant fundraising advantage, taking in about $6.2 million compared with Lazar’s roughly $1.2 million.
The court’s liberal majority, first established in 2023, has already reshaped Wisconsin law, including by striking down Republican-drawn legislative maps and invalidating a pro-life law that protected nearly all unborn children from abortion – a measure that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The race marked the fourth consecutive Wisconsin Supreme Court election won by a Democratic-backed candidate, following victories in 2020, 2023, and 2025.
Spending dropped sharply from last year’s record-breaking contest. The 2025 race drew more than $100 million, making it the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. This year’s race saw about $6.5 million in ad spending.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said the decline reflected lower stakes.
“The majority is not up for grabs, so political actors — especially out of state — are not engaged in the race,” Franklin said.
Taylor and her supporters still outspent Lazar’s backers by a wide margin on advertising, about $3.3 million to $255,000, according to AdImpact.