Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley Won’t Seek Reelection
Surprise announcement heightens stakes for spring 2025 election.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley gives a thumbs up before giving remarks at Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz’s investiture Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley announced Thursday she won’t run for reelection in 2025, a decision that could make it harder for liberals to defend the 4-3 majority they won just a year ago.
Bradley, 73, has served on the state’s highest court since 1995 and has been reelected twice during that time. In a statement, Bradley said while her time as justice will end in July 2025, “my dedication to public service remains unwavering.”
Bradley’s announcement comes as a surprise. A year ago, she had indicated that she would run again after Justice Janet Protasiewicz, a fellow liberal, won an open seat on the court. That election gave liberals a majority on the court for the first time in 15 years.
In a statement, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lauded Bradley as a “trailblazer who has always been dedicated to supporting women in the law and on the bench across Wisconsin.” “Justice Bradley’s decades of law experience and institutional knowledge as the most tenured justice currently serving on the Court have been critical in steadily guiding the Court through significant changes and challenging times, most especially over the last decade,” Evers said. ” She will leave an important role to fill to ensure our Court maintains the integrity and honor Justice Bradley has spent much of her career working to protect and preserve.”
Chris Taylor and Susan Crawford considering race, Brad Schimel already in
While the next Supreme Court election won’t be for another year, former Republican Attorney General and Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel has been campaigning since November. At his campaign launch in Waukesha, he told supporters his goal is to restore integrity and accountability on the court and urged conservatives to unify behind him.
In a statement, Schimel wished Bradley well in retirement, but noted he isn’t running against “one person.”
“I’m running against this Court’s leftist majority,” Schimel said. Shortly after Bradley’s announcement, Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor told reporters she’s considering running for the seat. Last year, she was elected to an open seat on the District IV Court of Appeals.
Former Rep. Chris Taylor asks questions during a public hearing of the Joint Committee on Finance, held as part of an extraordinary lame-duck session of the Legislature on Dec. 3, 2018, in Madison, Wis. Taylor is one of the legislators sponsoring a 2020 bill to close a loophole that could allow Human Services to place children in the care of abusive relatives. Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
In 2020, Taylor was appointed by Evers to the Dane County Circuit Court after serving four terms as a Democratic state representative. She previously served as a policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford said in a written statement she’s being encouraged to run for Supreme Court but is currently focused on “appreciating the long service” of Bradley’s service to Wisconsin. Crawford served as chief legal counsel to former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and has worked with the liberal law firm Pines Bach in Madison. “I appreciate the encouragement I’m receiving to consider running for the Supreme Court, and will have more to say about that in the coming weeks,” Crawford said.
The liberal majority has also taken up a lawsuit filed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers arguing Republicans have assumed too much power in the Legislature by blocking funding for things like state colleges and conservation projects.
And the court is being asked to weigh in on a case that could determine once and for all whether a pre-Civil War Wisconsin law bans abortions in the state.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated.
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley will not seek reelection was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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We will miss Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. I still have a sticker for JoAnne Kloppenburg (now Judge Kloppenburg if the District IV Court if Appeals) on my car. (This says something about how old my car is🙄.) Maybe it can be recycled.