Wisconsin's Supreme Court Election Is the Next Big Test in a High-Stakes Year for Democracy

As attention builds toward the 2026 election cycle, the first major political test is already underway. Early in-person voting has begun for Wisconsin’s April 7 state Supreme Court election–a high-stakes contest that, despite its “nonpartisan” label, reflects the same ideological battles reshaping courts across the country.

The race, recently spotlighted by the nonpartisan voter guide platform guides.vote, pits two sitting Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges—Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar—against each other to fill an open seat left by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, who announced last August she would not seek reelection. Both candidates are women, so the April 7 result will not change one defining feature of the court: its overwhelming female majority. Women hold six of the seven seats, more than any other state supreme court in the nation (though all are white, in a state where more than one in five residents identifies as a person of color.)

Though candidates do not run with party labels, Taylor is widely seen as the liberal-backed candidate, while Lazar, a member of the Federalist Society, aligns with conservative legal networks that have spent decades building influence in both federal and state courts.

In recent years, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has become a central battleground in the fight over abortion rights, voting access and redistricting. Liberal candidates have won the last three contests, securing a narrow 4–3 majority, most recently cemented by Susan Crawford’s record-breaking 2025 victory—a race that drew more than 2 million voters and over $100 million in spending.



https://msmagazine.com/2026/04/01/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-voter-guide-maria-lazar-chris-taylor-candidate-positions/