Maria S. Lazar and Chris Taylor are running in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 7. Incumbent Rebecca Bradley is not running for re-election.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, but candidates often take stances on specific issues and receive backing from the state's political parties during their campaigns. Lazar's campaign website says that she is not a member of a political party. Media outlets have identified her as conservative and she worked in the state's attorney general's office under Republican J.B. Van Hollen. Taylor is a former Democratic member of the Wisconsin Assembly.

Liberals are expected to have a majority on the court until at least 2028. Bradley is a member of the court's conservative minority. This means, if Lazar wins, the court would maintain its 4-3 liberal majority. If Taylor wins, the liberal majority would increase from 4-3 to 5-2.

Lazar is a judge for District II of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. She was a judge on the Waukesha County Circuit Court from 2015 to 2021 and an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice from 2010 to 2015. Before that, she worked in private practice. Lazar's campaign website says that she follows the following principles as a judge: "First, our written laws are a fundamental pillar in our democracy, and a judge must be independent of agendas, parties, and bias. Next, the law is to be a level playing field: no person is above or beneath the law."

Taylor is a judge for District IV of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. She was a judge on the Dane County Circuit Court from 2020 to 2023 and a Democratic state legislator from 2011 to 2020. Her other experience includes working as the public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Taylor's campaign website says, "Her judicial philosophy is people-centered, grounded in making sure individuals get a fair chance in our courts, and that their Constitutional rights are protected. She knows how important it is for our courts to be places where people feel heard, respected, and treated equally under the law. She is a strong advocate for maintaining the independence of the judiciary, which must also serve as a check on the other branches of government."

Liberals first won a 4-3 majority in the April 2023 election, when Protasiewicz won an open seat, defeating Daniel Kelly 55.4% to 44.4% and shifting ideological control of the court for the first time in 15 years. In April 2025, liberals retained their 4-3 majority when Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel 55.0% to 44.9%. The last time conservatives won an election for Wisconsin Supreme Court was in 2019, when Brian Hagedorn defeated Lisa Neubauer 50.2%-49.7%.

In their mid-January campaign finance reports filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, which covered activity between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, Taylor reported raising $2 million, and Lazar reported raising $198,000. Both the 2023 and the 2025 races broke records as the most expensive judicial races in U.S. history. According to WisPolitics, the candidates and satellite groups spent more than $100 million in the 2025 election and more than $56 million in the 2023 election.

The 2025 election also had record voter turnout for a nonpartisan election at 50%. The previous record was in 2023, when turnout was 39.7%. Turnout in Wisconsin’s November 2024 general election was 73% and turnout in November 2022 was 57.2%.

Wisconsin is also holding elections for three intermediate appellate court judges in April 2026. In November 2026, the state will hold elections for U.S. House and governor, as well as various other state executive and state legislative offices.