Liberals aim to extend their Wisconsin Supreme Court race winning streak

Liberals could further expand their edge on battleground Wisconsins' Supreme Court and put the majority out of reach for conservatives for years.

Three years ago, liberals won a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years, a major breakthrough in one of the nation’s most closely divided battleground states.

Next month, they’re aiming to further expand that edge.

The April 7 election between the Democratic-backed Chris Taylor and the Republican-backed Maria Lazar to fill a seat held by retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley has flown under the radar nationally compared to last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race, in which Susan Crawford maintained the liberals’ majority. That contest ended up as the most expensive state judicial race in history after Elon Musk poured in millions of dollars.

But a victory by Taylor, who holds massive fundraising and ad spending advantages, would extend liberals’ winning streak in Wisconsin Supreme Court elections to four — and put conservatives out of reach of the majority for years to come.

“It wasn’t so long ago that state Supreme Court races here used to be ‘nobody knows, and nobody cares’ springtime elections. In many ways, that’s how conservatives won a lot,” said Brandon Scholz, a Republican-turned-independent strategist in Wisconsin. “But the game has been changed. Democrats and liberals have proved they can outraise and outspend Republicans and conservatives — and they’ve changed the game even more because their court candidates have taken political positions that help voters look at these races like issues-based legislative or gubernatorial contests.”