Chris Taylor has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, NBC News projects, expanding liberals’ majority in the key battleground state.
Taylor, a state appeals court judge and former Democratic state legislator, secured a 10-year term on the court over conservative Maria Lazar, an appeals court judge who worked in Republican former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.
Taylor’s victory in the race for retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley’s seat means liberals will have a 5-2 edge on the swing state’s highest court, putting the majority out of reach for conservatives until at least 2030.
Liberal candidates have won four straight Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, as well as five of the last six. And dating to 2017, Democratic and Democratic-aligned candidates have won 19 of the last 24 statewide races in Wisconsin.
Taylor, who was backed by the state Democratic Party, held massive fundraising and ad spending advantages over Lazar throughout the race. She had put abortion and voting rights at the forefront of her campaign, much like other winning liberal Supreme Court candidates in the state in recent years. Taylor, a former policy director for the state's Planned Parenthood group. also leaned into messaging that targeted President Donald Trump, which has helped turn out Democratic voters in non-presidential elections in Wisconsin and nationally.
This year’s race was far quieter and less expensive than the last two Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin.
In 2023, liberals won a majority on the court for the first time in 15 years. And last year, they maintained that majority after the most expensive state Supreme Court race in U.S. history, into which tech billionaire Elon Musk poured millions of dollars for the conservative candidate. But without a court majority on the line this year, fundraising and enthusiasm were lower across the board.
In the 2025 race, groups and candidates spent $85 million on ads, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. This year's race drew $6.5 million in spending on the airwaves, with $4.7 million in support of Taylor and more than $1 million opposing Lazar.
The impact of a liberal majority has already been felt over the past several years in Wisconsin. The court overturned the state’s legislative maps, which heavily favored Republicans, resulting in new district lines' going into effect in 2024. Democrats have their sights set on flipping at least one legislative chamber for the first time in 16 years this fall.
Democrats also hope lawsuits over Wisconsin’s congressional map will make their way before the state Supreme Court. Republicans control six of the state’s eight House seats. They are also eyeing action on the court that could scale back or overturn a raft of other conservative legislation from previous GOP administrations, including a law that eliminated most collective bargaining rights for public workers.
And last year, the court ruled 4-3 to formally strike down a near-total abortion ban from 1849 that had gone into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Liberals will have yet another opportunity to expand their Wisconsin Supreme Court majority next year, with conservative Justice Annette Ziegler declining to run for a third term. After 2027, three other justices are also set to face re-election for 10-year terms from 2028 to 2030.
