Danger signs for swing state GOP as conservative justice candidate outraised 13-to-1

Wisconsin Republicans have some bad news in their bid to retain control of a key state Supreme Court seat up for election in the coming months.

According to Mary Spicuzza of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Court of Appeals Judge Maria Lazar, the conservative in the race, "reports raising about $200,000 since she got into the race in October." This is less than a tenth the haul of liberal candidate, Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor, who has raised $2.6 million overall and $2 million in the second half of 2025.

Elections for the seven-member Wisconsin Supreme Court are officially nonpartisan; however, in practice, both parties tend to endorse a candidate, and the campaigns often touch on partisan issues that could come before the courts, particularly in recent years.

Democratic-endorsed candidates secured a 4-3 majority on the court in 2023, propelled by a backlash to the U.S. Supreme Court's elimination of the Roe v. Wade abortion rights precedent, and ending years of conservative dominance of the state judicial system.

Since gaining the majority, the liberal bloc has moved to strike down the state's 176-year-old abortion ban, invalidated the GOP's aggressive gerrymander of the state legislature, and have appointed panels that might strike down the state's congressional gerrymander, too.

Making matters worse for Republicans, Justice Rebecca Bradley, one of the court's most right-wing members notorious for firebrand opinions, announced she wouldn't seek re-election last August, opening up her seat for the 2026 race. A Republican loss would shift the court to a stronger 5-2 liberal majority, with one of the only remaining conservatives, Brian Hagedorn, a relative moderate who has earned President Donald Trump's wrath for not helping him overturn election results.