Wisconsin Republicans admitted their own state Supreme Court candidate has failed to give conservative voters a reason to turn out in a high-stakes election Tuesday, as liberals prepare to expand their majority on the state's highest court.
"If you’re a Republican voter, what reason has Maria Lazar’s campaign given you to, like, show up and go to a poll on Tuesday?" a Wisconsin Republican operative who has run statewide races told The Hill in an article published Saturday.
The blunt critique cuts to the heart of why conservatives are bracing for what many expect to be a landslide defeat in the race to fill a seat being vacated by retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley.
Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor has outraised Lazar nearly 5-to-1, pulling in roughly $6.2 million to Lazar's $1.2 million. The state party gap is even starker as Wisconsin Democrats spent nearly $750,000 on Taylor's behalf between January and late March, while state Republicans spent just $96,000 supporting Lazar.
The Lazar campaign tried to push back, with spokesperson Nathan Conrad pointing to a Thursday debate as evidence that she made a direct case to conservative voters.
A Taylor win would expand the liberal bloc on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from a narrow 4-3 majority to a 5-2 supermajority, making a conservative path back to control significantly harder.
