Judge Chris Taylor Will Run for Wisconsin Supreme Court

It’s official: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor will run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2026 against incumbent justice Rebecca Bradley, setting up another liberal versus conservative race for the highest court in the state.

Liberals have won four of the last five such races, each time by double digit margins.

Taylor served nearly a decade in the Wisconsin State Assembly, where she was considered one of the smartest and most liberal Democrats. She was appointed to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2020 by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and then ran for and won the seat on the state appeals court in 2023. Bradley, who was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2016, may be its most conservative member

“Justice Rebecca Bradley has proven that she’s more interested in pushing her own right-wing political agenda than protecting Wisconsinites’ rights and freedoms. Extremism and partisanship have no place on our state’s highest court,” Taylor declared in a press release Tuesday announcing her candidacy.

Bradley, meanwhile, has assailed the liberals currently on the court, charging that they are “pursuing a political agenda” and are “really an embarrassment nationally.” And after liberal judge Susan Crawford’s victory in the April Supreme Court election, she said this: “I think the way Judge Crawford ran her race was disgusting…I’m not looking forward to working with her.”

As a legislator, Taylor “used her legal training to protect and enhance people’s rights, strengthen our democracy, and ensure access to affordable health care and fair wages,” her announcement noted. “Prior to her legislative work, she was an attorney and public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, where she defended constitutional rights and advocated for healthcare access in the Capitol.”

Bradley was appointed to the high court in October 2015 by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, after the death of Justice Patrick Crooks and then won election to the seat in April 2016. She has a history of making very conservative and often intemperate remarks, from her days as a college student at Marquette to her work on the state Supreme Court, as Urban Milwaukee has reported.

Taylor’s announcement described her judicial philosophy as “grounded in fairness, constitutional integrity, and respect for the law. She knows how important it is for our courts to be places where people feel heard, respected, and treated equally under the law.” Bradley, meanwhile, has insisted she is a stickler for upholding the law and the state Constitution.

Including Bradley, the seven-member court currently has a 4-3 liberal majority. Should Taylor win, that would give liberals a 5-2 margin.

All four of the five past Supreme Court elections won by liberals were by women candidates. The last time a male liberal candidate won the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court was William A. Bablitch in 1993, and he was running as an incumbent. While there is still time for another liberal challenger to run in the February 2026 primary, all signs suggest the Democratic establishment in Wisconsin will be backing Taylor.

Wisconsin now has the highest percent of women justices on its Supreme Court — six of seven justices or 83% — of any state in the nation. Whether Bradley or Taylor wins, the court will retain its current percent of women justices. And whoever wins will hold the position until 2036 as state high court justices serve a 10-year term.