Wisconsin Supreme Court and Mayoral Elections: Key Expectations Unveiled
Wisconsin voters head to the polls on Tuesday for a spring election that includes a state Supreme Court contest and a Waukesha mayoral race. Both contests could shape legal and local policy for years.
State Supreme Court matchup
The Wisconsin Supreme Court seat is open after Justice Rebecca Bradley announced her retirement from the court’s conservative bloc. Two state Appeals Court judges face off to replace her.
Chris Taylor is a former Democratic state representative. She holds endorsements from the court’s four sitting liberal justices. Maria Lazar served as an assistant state attorney general under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Lazar is backed by conservative Justice Annette Ziegler.
Political stakes and recent court history
Justices serve 10-year terms on the high court. Liberals secured a 4-3 majority in 2023. Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s victory flipped the balance that year.
In 2025, Justice Susan Crawford joined the bench and preserved the liberal majority. A win by Taylor would continue the liberal streak of recent winning candidates.
The new justice could play a central role if disputes arise over the 2028 presidential election or congressional redistricting in the early 2030s.
Electoral geography and past turnout
Voting patterns in Wisconsin remain geographically distinct. Democrats dominate Milwaukee and Dane counties. Republicans perform strongly across rural counties and in the suburban Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties.
In the 2024 presidential contest, then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried Milwaukee County with 68% and Dane County with 75%. State Supreme Court winners Protasiewicz and Crawford won roughly 73–75% in Milwaukee County and about 82% in Dane County.
Both justices prevailed statewide by double-digit margins. They also carried more than 10 swing counties that had supported Donald Trump in 2024, including Brown County.
Waukesha mayoral contest
Waukesha’s mayoral election is the city’s first open-seat race in 20 years. Common Council President Alicia Halvensleben challenges state Rep. Scott Allen for the office.
Allen has been one of the Legislature’s most conservative Republicans since his 2014 election. Halvensleben is the preferred candidate of the Waukesha County Democratic Party. Incumbent Mayor Shawn Reilly is not seeking a fourth term and has endorsed Halvensleben.
Reilly left the Republican Party after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and now identifies as an independent.
Voting logistics and what to watch
Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, which is 9 p.m. ET. Any registered Wisconsin voter may participate. Voters do not register by party.
As of April 1, Wisconsin had about 3.6 million active registered voters. That is out of roughly 4.5 million voting-age adults in the state. In the 2025 spring election, nearly 2.4 million ballots were cast, about 62% of registered voters.
About 29% of voters cast ballots before Election Day in that cycle. Ahead of this election, nearly 281,000 ballots had already been returned.
Counting, reporting and recount rules
Count timing has varied. In 2025, the first results were reported nine minutes after polls closed. The final update came around 2:12 a.m. ET with nearly 99% of votes tallied. That race was called at 10:16 p.m. ET.
Counties release early and absentee totals on different schedules. In 2024, roughly one-third of counties released most early ballots in the first update. The rest released them throughout the night.
Recounts in Wisconsin are not automatic. A trailing candidate may request one if the margin is under one percentage point. News services may declare a winner even if a recount is legally possible.
Coverage and context
Filmogaz.com will provide real-time coverage of the Wisconsin Supreme Court contest and local races. Coverage will also include a focused segment titled Mayoral Elections: Key Expectations Unveiled.
These spring contests offer a window into voter preferences before the 2026 midterms. As of Tuesday, there will be 210 days until those midterm elections.
