WASHINGTON — Wisconsin residents are gearing up to cast their votes in a pivotal state Supreme Court election on Tuesday. This decision will either sustain the current liberal majority or broaden it. Simultaneously, the city of Waukesha is witnessing its first open-seat mayoral contest in two decades.
These elections stand out in Wisconsin’s spring vote, which encompasses races for judicial, municipal, and educational positions, typically free from the partisan fervor seen in the November elections.
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The Supreme Court race features state Appeals Court judges Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar vying to succeed Justice Rebecca Bradley, part of the court’s conservative faction. Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state representative, has the backing of the court’s four liberal justices. On the other hand, Maria Lazar, who served as assistant state attorney general under former Republican Governor Scott Walker, boasts endorsements from conservative Justice Annette Ziegler, who recently announced her decision not to run for a third term in 2027.
This year’s judicial contest hasn’t captured the same level of attention as previous races since the court’s ideological balance remains unchanged. Nevertheless, the winner will be poised to influence significant decisions, especially if political disputes arise concerning the 2028 presidential election or redistricting plans in the early 2030s. Justices on this court serve 10-year terms.
Liberals are aiming for their fourth straight victory in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections. After Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s 2023 win, liberals secured a 4-3 majority for the first time in 15 years. The liberal hold continued in 2025 when Justice Susan Crawford was elected, despite substantial financial backing for her conservative opponent from Elon Musk and related groups.
In Wisconsin’s statewide elections, Democrats often secure significant wins in the densely populated Milwaukee and Dane counties, while rural counties tend to favor Republicans. The GOP also relies on strong performances in the “WOW” counties—Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington—to balance Democratic urban dominance. Ultimately, the election outcome hinges on the margins in these strongholds and the ability of each party to sway voters in more competitive regions.
In the 2024 presidential election, then-Vice President Kamala Harris won Milwaukee County with 68% of the vote and Dane County with 75%, while narrowly losing statewide. In comparison, Protasiewicz and Crawford in their successful state Supreme Court races received 73% and 75% of the vote in Milwaukee County and 82% of the vote in Dane County. They both won statewide with double-digit margins of victory.
Protasiewicz and Crawford each also won more than 10 swing counties that voted for Trump in 2024, most notably in Brown County, home to Green Bay, which Trump carried in all three of his White House campaigns.
In the race for Waukesha mayor, Common Council President Alicia Halvensleben and state Rep. Scott Allen are running to replace Mayor Shawn Reilly, who is not seeking a fourth term. Allen has been one of the most conservative Republicans in the Legislature since his election in 2014. Halvensleben is the preferred candidate of the Waukesha County Democratic Party.
Reilly is an independent who left the Republican Party after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He has endorsed Halvensleben.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Recounts are not automatic in Wisconsin, but a trailing candidate may request one if the winning vote margin is less than a percentage point. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:
When do polls close?
Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, which is 9 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in the races for state Supreme Court and Waukesha mayor.
Who gets to vote?
Any registered voter in Wisconsin may participate in the spring election.
What do turnout and advance vote look like?
As of April 1, there were about 3.6 million active registered voters in Wisconsin out of about 4.5 million eligible voting-age adults. Voters in the state do not register by party.
Nearly 2.4 million votes were cast in the 2025 spring election for state Supreme Court, which was about 62% of registered voters. About 29% of voters cast their ballots before election day.
As of Friday, nearly 281,000 ballots had already been cast.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2025 spring election, the AP first reported results in the race for state Supreme Court at 9:09 p.m. ET, or nine minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 2:12 a.m. ET with about 99% of total votes counted. The race was called at 10:16 p.m. ET.
When are early and absentee votes released?
In previous Wisconsin elections, counties varied in terms of when and how they released results from early and absentee voting. In the 2024 general election, roughly a third of the counties released all or most of their early and absentee voting results in the first vote update, while the rest released them throughout the night along with results from in-person Election Day voting.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 210 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
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