Liberal Chris Taylor cruises to Wisconsin Supreme Court win...

Liberal candidate Chris Taylor cruised to an easy victory over her conservative opponent in the state Supreme Court race on Tuesday night, according to early projections, expanding a liberal majority on the court to 5-2. Taylor, a state Appeals Court judge, was declared the winner over fellow state Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar by Decision Desk HQ at 8:26 p.m. on April 7, not even a half hour after the polls closed. NBC called the race at about 8:30 p.m. Taylor will serve a 10-year term on the state's highest court. This is the third Supreme Court election in the last four years. After a string of victories, liberals went into this year's race with a 4-3 majority on the court - and knew they would keep their majority regardless of who won. Taylor's win means liberals are poised to control the state Supreme Court until at least 2030. Subdued race compared to record-breaking 2025 Supreme Court election Without control of the court at stake, this year's election has been subdued compared to the 2025 state Supreme Court race. The race between Taylor and Lazar drew just a tiny fraction of the campaign spending and attention compared to last year, when the April 2025 Supreme Court election became the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. It drew more than $100 million in spending, including campaign cash from millionaires and billionaires around the country. The biggest spender in that race was Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who held a rally in Wisconsin that involved him wearing a foam Cheesehead, handing out a couple of giant $1 million checks. During his Green Bay event, Musk warned that "the entire destiny of humanity" would be shaped by the outcome of the race. "The majority is not up for grabs, so political actors – especially out of state – are not engaged in the race," said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll. Even though Musk and others spent millions trying to elect Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate in the 2025 race, he lost by about 10 percentage points to liberal Justice Susan Crawford. It was a similar margin to the 2023 race, in which liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated Dan Kelly, a conservative former state Supreme Court justice. "Certainly, there is discouragement among Republicans and conservatives after having lost four of the last five Supreme Court elections, despite pouring unprecedented amounts of money into the last two races," Franklin said. That may explain why the fundraising in the race have been so lopsided, with Taylor and her supporters far outraising and outspending Lazar and those backing her. There is also a competitive governor's race - and contested legislative races - in November, so some of the typically deep-pocketed donors may be saving their money until the fall. It's not just campaign spending that's declined. Early voting numbers have also dropped this year compared to 2025. Polar opposite candidates highlight partisanship in race It's hard to imagine two candidates farther apart on key issues than Taylor and Lazar. Abortion may be the starkest divide between the pair. Taylor previously worked as law and policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin – a major reproductive health care provider and abortion rights group – where she said she "defended constitutional rights and advocated for health care access for all and for each individual to make their own personal, private health care decisions." Taylor also served for about 10 years in the state Legislature and was known as one of the more liberal members. She was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to the Dane County Circuit Court bench in 2020, and has been a judge on the Madison-based District IV Court of Appeals since 2023. Lazar said she personally opposes abortion but has said that she would uphold Wisconsin's current 20-week abortion ban. Lazar has been on the Waukesha-based District 2 Court of Appeals since 2022. She previously served as a Waukesha County judge, an assistant attorney general under Republican Attorneys General J.B. Van Hollen and Brad Schimel, and as an attorney in private practice.