MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor won election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, growing the liberal majority on the court as cases affecting congressional redistricting, union rights and other hot button issues await in the perennial battleground state.
Taylor, who focused her campaign on abortion rights, handily defeated Republican-backed Maria Lazar in the fourth straight victory for liberal court candidates dating back to 2020. Liberals are now guaranteed to hold a majority on the court until at least 2030.
“Once again, Wisconsin showed the entire nation that we believe that the people should be at the center of government and the priority of our judiciary, not the billionaires, not the most powerful and privileged, but the people,” Taylor said in her victory speech.
Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming, in the wake of Lazar’s double-digit defeat, called for Republicans to “stay united and continue fighting for our conservative values.”
Democrats tightened their control of the court just months before a November election in which they seek to keep the governor’s office and flip the state Legislature, where Republicans have held the majority since 2011. Democrats aspire to undo a host of Republican-enacted laws that made Wisconsin a focal point for the nation’s conservative movement in the 2010s.
