State Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, the conservative candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, has raised $200,000 – a tenth of the fundraising haul raked in by her opponent, liberal state Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor.
Lazar got in the race in October, about a month after incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley announced she wouldn’t seek reelection.
The election is April 7, giving Lazar about 80 days to try to close the vast fundraising gap between them.
Taylor, who launched her campaign in late May, reported raising $2.6 million, including about $2 million during the last half of 2025.
“We knew starting in October put us behind the fundraising clock, but we aren’t running a traditional, consultant-driven campaign,” Lazar campaign spokesman Nathan Conrad said in a statement. “While our opponent relies on a $2 million head start from the same old political machines, Judge Lazar is building a new style of campaign.”
He added that they are focused on voters who feel “left behind by a polarized system: the disenfranchised, the independent thinkers, and those who simply want a judge who follows the law, not a political agenda.”
Campaign funds help candidates buy airtime for television advertisements, hire campaign staff and pay for voter outreach, including text messages and mailers.
“We are playing catch-up on the spreadsheets, but we are winning on the ground. The people of Wisconsin are tired of high-priced politics; they want a justice who listens,” Conrad said. “That is exactly what Judge Maria Lazar is doing every single day.”
Campaign finance reports, which are due on Jan. 15, were not yet available for either candidate.
Taylor’s haul is so far similar to the funds raised by Justice Susan Crawford, who reported having raised $2.9 million at this time last year. Crawford’s total included $1 million transferred from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Crawford went on to win the April 2025 election after a race that shattered nationwide campaign spending records for a judicial election. It included heavy spending by the super PAC run by billionaire Elon Musk, which spent $47.4 million in the first half of 2025 as the group was trying to help elect Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate in the race.
Wisconsin’s highest court currently has a 4-3 liberal majority. They are competing for the seat vacated by Bradley, a staunch conservative, who announced in late August that she had decided against running for another 10-year term.
“The conservative movement needs to take stock of its failures, identify the problem, and fix it,” Bradley said at the time. “I will not seek reelection to the Wisconsin Supreme Court because I believe the best path for me to rebuild the conservative movement and fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.”
A Taylor victory would expand the liberal majority, while a Lazar win would maintain the current split.
Taylor was appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to the Dane County Circuit Court bench in 2020. She previously served for about 10 years in the state Legislature and was known as one of the most liberal members. Before joining the state Assembly in 2011, Taylor served as public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Lazar has been on the Waukesha-based District 2 Court of Appeals since 2022. She previously served as a Waukesha County judge, an assistant attorney general under Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, and as an attorney in private practice.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lazar reports raising $200K for Supreme Court race, lagging Taylor
Reporting by Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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