Bradley Drops Out, Supreme Court Race Is Wide Open
Conservative Rebecca Bradley says her 'fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.'
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley addresses reporters after the debate between Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley will not seek reelection next spring, saying the best path in her “fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.”
The decision puts to bed speculation about the intentions of Bradley, a stalwart of the court’s conservative minority.
Bradley had indicated she would seek an additional term on the court in April, after the election of liberal Justice Susan Crawford solidified the high court’s majority for years to come.
But campaign finance reports from earlier this summer revealed she had raised no money for reelection, sparking speculation that she might not run.
In a statement sent to WisPolitics, Bradley said she is seeking to “rebuild the conservative movement.”
“For years I have warned that under the control of judicial activists, the court will make itself more powerful than the legislature, more powerful than the governor,” she said. “That warning went unheeded, and Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what is an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”
“The conservative movement needs to take stock of its failures, identify the problem, and fix it,” she added.
She did not immediately respond to WPR’s request for comment.
An open race for spring Supreme Court contest
The decision leaves Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor of Madison, who is a former Democratic member of the state Assembly, without a declared opponent for the April election.
In a statement, Taylor’s campaign manager, Ashley Franz, said Bradley’s announcement doesn’t change her plans.
“No matter who Republicans and right-wing special interests recruit to run against her, Wisconsinites will once again have a clear choice between a candidate who believes in stripping rights away and Judge Taylor, who has always been on the side of the people,” Franz said.
Bradley’s announcement leaves no clear contender to replace her, although conservatives have a strong bench of jurists, including Waukesha-based Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, whose name has been floated in past elections.
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, Lazar said she is “seriously considering a run,” and will make her decision in the coming weeks.
But more broadly, Bradley’s decision speaks to challenges that Wisconsin Republicans and their preferred candidates have in nonpresidential races. That problem has grown particularly acute over the last decade. As President Donald Trump has grown to be his party’s standard-bearer, some conservative voters have been less likely to turn out when Trump’s name is not on the ballot.
The Wisconsin Republican Party recently conducted an analysis of their weaknesses in nonpresidential races, and particularly spring Supreme Court races.
Liberals have consistently held an advantage in Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, winning five of the last six races by 10 percentage points. The last conservative to win a contested high court race was Brian Hagedorn in 2019 — who eked out a victory by half a point.
Political scientists say that, while state Democrats have successfully nationalized the stakes of these races, Republicans have been slower to do so, attracting fewer out-of-state donors.
These challenges aren’t likely to be resolved by April 7, 2026: next year’s Supreme Court election day. But it’ll be an early test of how conservatives respond to winds that hand them strong presidential Novembers and weak springtime and midterm races.
Meanwhile, liberals are likely to hold the court until at least 2028, after Crawford’s victory this year, with high court elections scheduled for every spring through 2030.
Justice Rebecca Bradley will not seek reelection, setting up wide open Wisconsin Supreme Court race was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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Bradley is just tired of the 10yrs of mental gymnastics required to believe she doesn’t do the same things she acuses others of.
…”an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”
Her description of her own behavior on the court while in the majority and then in the minority.
Great move. She’s a horrible person.
Their accusations are confessions!
…”an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”
Which comment from her past describes her more? Her published articles and hate speech in the Marquette Tribune, where Bradley condemned “self-centered” women who get abortions, or her condemnation of AIDS awareness groups promoting condom use and gay people for their “abnormal sexual preference?”
Or how about the one where she sniped that President Bill Clinton was a “tree-hugging, baby-killing, pot-smoking, flag-burning, queer-loving, draft-dodging, bull-spouting ’60s radical socialist.”
She no doubt still wants history (and Wisconsinites) that. like all good Republicans, that she had turned her life around (they call it evolving). Remember. She did catch the attention of then Anti gay rights Governor Scott Walker. back in 2012, who was enamored by her witty editorial opinions and skills and appointed her in the first place. So my guess…and fear …is that she is on President Trump’s and Herr Miller’s radar for a job appointment somewhere in the near future..
Rebecca Bradley won’t know thoughtful, principled judicial rulings if one bit her. Her take on history is embarrassing. Her reliance on partisan hyperbole is unbecoming of a justice on the supreme court. Her hate filled comments like those DAGDAG identified, demonstrates her lack of judicious composure. She made no bones about how she would vote on a case before WI supreme court even before arguments are presented.
Her statement upon pulling out of the race is a perfect description of her behavior on the court. In other words, she projects her own bad behavior onto her SC colleagues with whom she disagrees. The question I have is what does she considers freedom to be? Could it be she defines freedom the same way it is defined by Big Brother, in Orwell’s 1984.
Her message seems to be “if I can’t be on the winning side most or all of the time I choose not to play”.
So much for standing up for her “principles”.
I guess she sees no legal, non-cheating path to victory. Maybe she will run for governor!
Also, please think about the irony and hypocrisy in the following statement if you apply her words to describe our current right-wing zealots on the United States Supreme Court: (Replace governor with POTUS)
““For years I have warned that under the control of judicial activists, the court will make itself more powerful than the legislature, more powerful than the governor,” she said. “That warning went unheeded, and Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what is an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”
Pretty eerie, huh?
…”saying the best path in her “fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.” ”
This statement alone should be disqualifying for anyone to be seated as a Supreme Court (or any level) judge. That is not the role that judges are assigned.
In running for governor her slogan could b “I was a terrible judge, I will be an even worse governor.