Wisconsin judicial race spotlights state GOP’s struggles

Wisconsin Republicans are bracing for a lopsided state Supreme Court race next week, as liberals are all but expected to expand their majority. It underscores how the state GOP has struggled to compete in critical elections over nearly the last decade. 

Democratic-backed judicial candidate Chris Taylor leads the conservative favorite, Maria Lazar, in recent polling, and Taylor’s campaign has outraised her opponent by a roughly 5-to-1 margin in the race that will determine whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court remains a 4-3 liberal majority or expands to 5-2 edge. 

The unusually sleepy nature of Tuesday’s judicial race comes as Wisconsin Republicans have struggled to match the Badger State’s Democrats in state party apparatus and fundraising abilities in recent years. 

“The [conservative] campaign apparatus is really degraded over the course of the last 10 years or so, particularly in the … fundraising side of things,” said Republican strategist Ben Voelkel, a former longtime aide to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who once ran for lieutenant governor. 

“The state party really does not have the same kind of money, oomph, that it has had in the past, certainly not what Democrats have going now.” 

Wisconsin voters will be heading to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on an open seat for the state Supreme Court, created when conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley announced she would retire after her current term. The liberal faction enjoys a one-seat edge on the high court; Taylor’s expected win would expand that to two.

The judicial election has produced less fanfare and attention than past races, in part because the contest won’t impact who controls the majority. If liberals win the seat, it only makes the path to winning back the majority that much harder for conservatives. 

Lazar, a state court appellate judge who served as assistant attorney general under two GOP Wisconsin attorneys general, has positioned herself as “independent” and “impartial” in the race and has nodded some toward issues that resonate with the GOP base. 

Taylor, also a state court appellate judge who previously served as Democratic state representative, has been more comfortable signaling her thoughts on certain issues, particularly on abortion — a hot topic in this year’s race.  

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