Liberal Judge Chris Taylor Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Expanding Majority to 5-2

Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor defeated conservative Judge Maria Lazar in the state's April 7 Supreme Court election, expanding the court's liberal majority to a commanding 5-2 margin that will hold until at least 2030. With 93 percent of votes reported, Taylor led Lazar 59.6 percent to roughly 40 percent — a decisive 20-point margin in a swing state that President Trump had carried by fewer than two points in 2024.

The victory marks the fourth consecutive Wisconsin Supreme Court win for liberal-backed candidates and delivers progressives a supermajority on the state's highest court. Taylor, a former Democratic state legislator and one-time policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, will fill the seat vacated by the retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley and will serve a ten-year term beginning August 1, 2026. Her victory came despite a campaign spending environment dramatically quieter than last cycle's record $85 million race — total spending reached just $6.5 million, with $4.7 million supporting Taylor and more than $1 million backing opposition to Lazar.

The political implications are sweeping. A 5-2 liberal supermajority places the Wisconsin Supreme Court beyond the reach of conservative intervention regardless of a single vacancy, insulating recent landmark rulings on redistricting and reproductive rights for the foreseeable future. The existing liberal majority had already struck down gerrymandered legislative maps drawn by Republicans and invalidated an 1849 abortion ban that had briefly come back into effect following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision. Those rulings — and future progressive decisions — are now effectively locked in through at least 2030.

Taylor campaigned explicitly on abortion access, voting rights, and opposition to the Trump administration's agenda. Lazar, elevated to the Court of Appeals during Scott Walker's governorship, had emphasized judicial restraint and alignment with conservative legal principles. National Republicans had hoped a strong showing from Lazar might signal growing strength for the GOP in Wisconsin ahead of the 2026 midterms, but Taylor's margin shattered those expectations. Analysts immediately noted the result suggested a 20-point Democratic overperformance relative to the 2024 presidential baseline — a troubling signal for Republicans in a state both parties consider essential in any national coalition.

The win caps a remarkable run of progressive judicial victories in Wisconsin. Liberals have now won five of the last six Wisconsin Supreme Court contests. The results arrived the same night that Republican Clay Fuller claimed victory in Georgia's 14th Congressional District special election — a seat left vacant by Marjorie Taylor Greene — but Democrats overperformed there too by roughly 25 points relative to the 2024 presidential margin. Taken together, Tuesday's results added to a pattern of Democratic voters turning out at elevated rates in off-cycle elections, a trend that could prove consequential when the full Congress comes up for election in November 2026.