Parties and candidates are choosing their preferred takeaways, and there are plenty to go around.
Election night always delivers a narrative in Wisconsin. Judge Chris Taylor cruised to a 60.1%-39.8% victory over Republican-backed Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar in the race to replace retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley. This was no nail-biter for a lower-profile race with far less outside money than the Musk-fueled election of 2025. It’s another chapter in a four-election liberal winning streak that has reshaped Wisconsin’s judicial landscape. But who are the real winners and losers from last night?
Winners
- Chris Taylor: The obvious one. She ran a disciplined campaign, outraised her opponent by multiples, and turned a safe open seat into a landslide of apocalyptic proportions. Or, as the kids say, “Assad margins.” The savvy politician ran the race as her predecessors did, but with even more discipline.
- Democratic Party Chair: After former Chair, Ben Wikler decided to step down from leadership could the party continue its success? Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: the Democratic Party hasn’t skipped a beat.
- “Wine Moms”: The Democratic party has a formula for judicial races—white, liberal, suburban, wine mom vibes that appeal to abortion and “pro-democracy” messaging. While each liberal candidate is unique, they have all followed a winning strategy that shows no sign of slowing down.
- Rural Democrats: Much of the spring elections depend heavily on turnout and GOTV efforts. Traditionally Republican counties saw sharp shifts across the board, with many flipping. While this doesn’t mean that the Northwoods or even western Wisconsin will return to the blue-dog Democrat days, seeing an Obama-like blue map is a sight rural Democrats have to be proud of.
- NIMBYs (Not in My Back Yard): One of the key races in Waukesha County was the Brookfield mayor race. It pitted incumbent conservative Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto against Alderman and challenger Mike Hallquist. In a night that Democrats saw huge wins, Hallquist’s push for low-income housing may have been a deciding factor in a community that has traditionally prided itself on being exclusive. Ponto’s closing message to voters was, after all, “Keep Brookfield, Brookfield.”
Losers
- “Judicial Ethics”: The only people who care about the term are all members of the legal community. Outside of that group, no one cares, let alone knows what it even is. Lazar’s commitment to running on this platform has proven unfruitful, to put it lightly.
- GOP Fundraising: The trend continues. Fundraising woes at the party and candidate level have proven to be one of, if not the, biggest hurdles facing conservatives. There is little evidence of this trend reversing.
- Conservative Judicial Candidates: Who would dare want to run in the future? With the Supreme Court majority locked in until 2030 (at the least), good candidates are going to want to keep their powder. There is a conservative bench that I believe is the future of the party, but they need time before they can run. So, who runs next? Who even wants to run?
Biggest Surprises
- The Margin: Taylor wasn’t supposed to lose, but almost nobody outside the most optimistic liberal circles predicted a 20-point rout in a race with depressed turnout and minimal national oxygen. Republicans had privately conceded weeks ago, yet the size of the defeat still stings.
- Milwaukee County Supervisor: Patti Logsdon secured a convincing victory against Maqsood Khan in a race where the South Side of Milwaukee County has slowly crept away from Republicans. This race was billed as a close fight that was really over after the first ballot drop of the night.
- Referendums: While more research has to be done, a fair number of referendums failed despite an electorate that favors Democrats or a “yes” vote. Can Republicans use this silver lining to parlay a message for November? I think there is something there, but it will depend on candidates for November to pick that up and market it to voters.
