MADISON, Wis. (CN) - Appeals Judge Chris Taylor came out on top Tuesday in the race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, extending the liberal majority on the bench.

This race looked starkly different from the all-out battle Wisconsin saw in the 2025 election for Chief Justice Ann Walsh Bradley's seat between Justice Susan Crawford and former U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel.  

Spending in that race shattered records with a shocking $100 million price tag fueled by Schimel's biggest donor, Elon Musk, while this race struggled to break $10 million. According to reports made by the candidates to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission's campaign finance dashboard, Taylor received just over $6 million in contributions and spent nearly every dollar.

Conversely, Lazar raised around $1.2 million. Both candidates received most of their funding from donations of $100 or less, according to campaign finance watchdog Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Independent spending, currently at around $1 million, had already exceeded $25 million this time last year, exemplifying the dry well of donor support for the 2026 race where the majority is not at stake, and outside forces have not swooped in like years past to put a finger on the scale.

The seat opened up after conservative-leaning Justice Rebecca Bradley announced her retirement in August 2025. Bradley has expressed concerns both in her retirement announcement and in frequent dissenting opinions that the court's new liberal majority is enacting an agenda rather than following the law.

While recent polling and spending figures had Taylor holding a strong lead for weeks before election day, Wisconsinites did not see the big money forces and nonstop advertising they had gotten used to in 2025 and 2023.

Those elections ended in landslides for liberal-leaning candidates after hard and expensive battles fought on the airwaves. Without an opportunity for Republicans to flip the ideological majority on the bench, the stakes weren't high enough to energize the state GOP.

Taylor, 58, is a former member of the Wisconsin Assembly and policy planner for Planned Parenthood. More recently, she served on the Dane County Circuit Court before moving on to the District IV state appeals court.

The Californian with just six years of judicial experience oriented her campaign around state Democrats' biggest winning issues, like abortion and criticism of the Trump administration, despite denying being registered with the party.

During a debate with Lazar last week, Taylor said she would stand up for Wisconsinites to protect their rights, democracy and elections. The sentiment was not unlike what voters might expect to hear from a legislator, which Lazar pointed out at every opportunity.

The pair sparred over the course of the hour long debate on April 2 over abortion, redistricting and the SAVE Act, which both candidates said they do not fully support.

Dems eye 'trifecta'

Lazar, 61, is a conservative-leaning candidate running as an independent. Her campaign was laser-focused on judicial philosophy and restraint, rather than issues voters are most familiar with.  

"What's at stake in this race? Justice, integrity and independence. I am running to stop the erosion of faith in our State Supreme Court," Lazar said during last week's debate.

Hailing from Brookfield, Wisconsin, Lazar has sat on the District II state appellate court for seven years. Before then, she bounced for 32 years between Milwaukee, Madison and Waukesha as a private practice attorney, an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice and a circuit court judge.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin did not inject nearly as much energy or money into Lazar's campaign as they did for Schimel, who still lost the Supreme Court race by 10 points last year.

Lazar reported receiving around $160,000 from the state party, while the Democratic Party of Wisconsin amped up the Taylor campaign to the tune of over $800,000.  

Lazar credited this to her running as an independent, but experts told Courthouse News in March it's more likely due to a combination of donor fatigue and building up the coffers for the tough midterm elections ahead.

Every seat in the Wisconsin Assembly and half of the Senate will be up for grabs in November. Democrats need only pick up 10 and four vacancies, respectively, to flip the majority for the first time since 2008.

Top Republicans have announced retirements one after another, including Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, state Senators Steven Nass and Van Wanggaard, and more.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin communications director Philip Shulman told Courthouse News the party is looking beyond April 7 at the possibility of a trifecta, or liberal control of all three branches of government.

A Marquette Law School poll published in March showed Taylor leading registered voters by 6%, but more than half of voters were still undecided just weeks before election day. Among likely voters, Taylor's lead in the poll grew to 8%.

The poll also reported more Republicans than Democrats remained undecided, with independent voters leaning toward Taylor or not planning to vote at all.

Source: Courthouse News Service