An election location in Madison, WisconsinJoe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch/Getty
Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election received far less attention than a similar contest a year ago, when Elon Musk spent $25 million trying to flip the balance of power on the court. Back then, the world’s richest man—who, at the time, was also a key White House adviser—personally hand-delivered $1 million checks to voters while wearing a cheesehead hat.
This time, majority control of the state’s highest court wasn’t at stake. But the outcome was still hugely significant for politics in Wisconsin and nationally.
The massive 20-point victory by Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state legislator and appellate judge in Madison, expands the progressive majority on the court from 4-to-3 to 5-to-2. That extends a remarkable winning streak for Democratic-backed judicial candidates, who’ve now won five of the last six Supreme Court races in the swing state. It’s a stunning turnaround from a decade ago, when a conservative majority dominated the court and upheld much of then-Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) right-wing agenda, such as his efforts to crush unions, make it harder to vote, and gerrymander in the GOP’s favor.
In 2020, when conservatives on the Wisconsin court held a 4-3 majority, Donald Trump and his allies attempted to convince the justices to overturn the state’s presidential election results. They nearly succeeded. Just one of the conservatives, Justice Brian Hagedorn, sided with the liberals in narrowly upholding Joe Biden’s win.
Taylor’s victory on Tuesday means progressives are set to control the court’s majority through at least 2030. That will make it nearly impossible for Republicans to use the state courts to hijack elections. Taylor said during a debate last week with her opponent, Maria Lazar—a fellow appellate judge who previously served in Walker’s administration—that she was “very concerned that we might have efforts to suppress the vote” and that “this is why we need a strong Supreme Court that’s going to hold the federal government accountable.”
Taylor’s win also makes it likely that progressives will retain their majority through the post-2030 redistricting cycle. That will make it tougher for Republicans in the state legislature to engage in gerrymandering like they did after 2010, when they locked in lopsided majorities for a decade-and-a-half.
In 2023, the court’s new progressive majority invalidated the state’s GOP-drawn legislative maps, leading to competitive elections in both chambers of the legislature. And the court could soon decide whether to strike down the state’s congressional map, which gives Republicans a 6-to-2 advantage in its US House delegation.
Other recent decisions by the court have been similarly consequential. In July 2025, the court struck down Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, which went back into effect after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It also restored mail ballot drop boxes and said the legislature could not fire the state’s top election administrator. The court might also soon revisit the legality of Walker’s law revoking collective bargaining rights for public sector unions, which has decimated labor’s influence in the state.
Wisconsin Supreme Court elections often serve as a barometer for national politics. When Musk’s attempt to buy the court backfired last year and progressive judge Susan Crawford won by 10 points, it sent a signal that democracy could defeat oligarchy.
Taylor won by twice that margin. If Crawford’s victory was a landslide by Wisconsin standards, Taylor’s was a tsunami. Taylor won at least 24 counties that Trump carried in 2024. Democrats also prevailed in the mayor’s race in Waukesha, the county seat of a longtime GOP stronghold in suburban Milwaukee. The results are another indicator that a blue wave is forming in November.
