Wisconsin Supreme Court Election 2025
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has long been a battleground for ideological control, with its rulings shaping critical issues like abortion rights, redistricting, and voting laws.
The 2023 election, which flipped the court to a 4-3 liberal majority, was one of the most expensive judicial races in U.
S.
history, signaling the high stakes of judicial elections in a politically divided state.
As the 2025 election approaches where conservative Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s seat will be contested the fight for judicial supremacy intensifies.
This election could either solidify the liberal majority or restore conservative influence, with profound implications for Wisconsin’s legal and political landscape.
The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election is not merely a contest between candidates but a proxy war over democracy itself, where partisan spending, ethical concerns, and national political agendas threaten the court’s perceived impartiality and the integrity of state governance.
Wisconsin’s judicial elections have increasingly mirrored federal campaigns in both cost and polarization.
The 2023 race saw over $45 million in spending, with national groups like the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) and the Democratic-aligned Wisconsin Alliance for Reform flooding airwaves with attack ads (Brennan Center, 2023).
Such spending raises ethical concerns: Can justices remain impartial when their campaigns are bankrolled by entities with clear policy agendas? Legal scholars like James Sample (Hofstra University) argue that massive spending erodes public trust, as voters perceive justices as beholden to donors rather than the law.
Meanwhile, defenders of the current system, including some conservative legal analysts, contend that elections ensure accountability unlike federal lifetime appointments, state justices must answer to voters.
A key issue in the 2025 race will be the court’s stance on redistricting.
Wisconsin’s legislative maps are among the most gerrymandered in the nation, with Republicans holding a near-supermajority despite losing statewide elections.
The liberal majority’s 2024 ruling in overturned GOP-drawn maps, but a conservative victory in 2025 could reverse this precedent.
Critics, including the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, warn that unchecked gerrymandering entrenches minority rule.
Conversely, conservatives like Rick Esenberg (Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty) argue that courts should defer to legislatures on redistricting, citing the political question doctrine.
The 2025 election will determine whether Wisconsin follows states like Ohio, where courts have repeatedly struck down partisan maps, or embraces a more hands-off judicial approach.
Since the U.
S.
Supreme Court overturned, Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban has been a flashpoint.
The current liberal majority allowed a lawsuit challenging the ban to proceed, but a conservative reversal could reinstate restrictive laws.
Pro-choice advocates frame the 2025 race as a referendum on bodily autonomy, while anti-abortion groups view it as a chance to cement pro-life jurisprudence.
Research from the Guttmacher Institute shows that states with elected judiciaries see more volatile shifts in reproductive rights.
This raises a critical question: Should life-altering legal precedents hinge on the outcome of a single election cycle? Wisconsin’s weak recusal standards where justices decide for themselves whether to step aside in cases involving donors have drawn scrutiny.
In 2023, Justice Janet Protasiewicz refused calls to recuse herself from redistricting cases despite accepting millions from the Democratic Party.
Good-government groups like Common Cause Wisconsin argue for stricter rules, but proposals have stalled in the GOP-led legislature.
Comparatively, states like Michigan have adopted disqualification standards for donor-related cases.
Without reform, Wisconsin risks further erosion of judicial credibility.
The 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election transcends individual candidates it is a struggle over whether the court will serve as a check on legislative power or an extension of partisan warfare.
The influx of dark money, the specter of gerrymandering, and the volatility of civil liberties underscore the high stakes.
Beyond Wisconsin, this race reflects a national trend: state courts are now the final arbiters of democracy itself.
If judicial elections become purely partisan contests, the very legitimacy of the judiciary is at risk.
As voters weigh their choices in 2025, they are not just selecting a justice they are deciding the future of governance in a polarized America.
- Brennan Center for Justice.
(2023).
- Guttmacher Institute.
(2024).
- Sample, J.
(2022).
Harvard Law Review.
- Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
(2024)