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Wisconsin Supreme Court elections

From Ballotpedia
Revision as of 00:29, 18 December 2025 by Marielle Bricker (contribs) (Replaced content with "There are '''seven justices''' on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. For more information about these elections, visit the Wisconsin judicial elections page. ==Judicial selection== {{trim|{{#section-h:Wisconsin Supreme Court|Judicial selection}}}} ==Elections== {{#section:Wisconsin Supreme Court|ElectionSection}} ==See also== {{SCP See Also|State=Wisconsin}} ==External links== {{submit a link}} {{Google}} * [http://wicourts.gov/courts/supreme/index.htm ''Wiscon...")
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There are seven justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. For more information about these elections, visit the Wisconsin judicial elections page.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Wisconsin

The seven justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are elected in statewide nonpartisan elections. Judges serve ten-year terms, and to remain on the court, they must run for re-election after their term expires. Only one seat may be elected in any year, and more than two candidates for each seat must file to have a primary.[1][2]

Qualifications

To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:

  • licensed to practice law in Wisconsin for a minimum of five years immediately prior to election or appointment
  • under the age of 70.[3]

Chief justice

The chief justice of the court is selected by peer vote for a term of two years.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

In the event of a vacancy on the court, the governor has the power and duty to appoint an individual to the vacancy. The governor screens judicial applicants using an advisory council on judicial selection. The council recommends three to five candidates to the governor, although the governor is not bound by their recommendations. The appointed justice must then stand for election in the first subsequent year in which no other justice's term expires.[2][1][4]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Elections

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2030


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2029


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2028


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2027


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2026

General election

The general election will occur on April 7, 2026.

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Maria S. Lazar (Nonpartisan) and Chris Taylor (Nonpartisan) are running in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 7, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Maria S. Lazar
Maria S. Lazar (Nonpartisan)
Image of Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor (Nonpartisan)

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for February 17, 2026, was canceled. Maria S. Lazar (Nonpartisan) and Chris Taylor (Nonpartisan) advanced from the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court without appearing on the ballot.

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2025

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Susan Crawford (Nonpartisan) defeated Brad Schimel (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 1, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Susan Crawford
Susan Crawford (Nonpartisan)
 
55.0
 
1,301,137
Image of Brad Schimel
Brad Schimel (Nonpartisan)
 
44.9
 
1,062,330
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
1,420

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,364,887
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for February 18, 2025, was canceled. Susan Crawford (Nonpartisan) and Brad Schimel (Nonpartisan) advanced from the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court without appearing on the ballot.

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2023

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Janet Claire Protasiewicz (Nonpartisan) defeated Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 4, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Janet Claire Protasiewicz
Janet Claire Protasiewicz (Nonpartisan)
 
55.4
 
1,021,822
Image of Daniel Kelly
Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan)
 
44.4
 
818,391
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2%
 
3,267

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,843,480
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Janet Claire Protasiewicz (Nonpartisan) and Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan) defeated Jennifer Dorow (Nonpartisan) and Everett Mitchell (Nonpartisan) in the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court on February 21, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Janet Claire Protasiewicz
Janet Claire Protasiewicz (Nonpartisan)
 
46.4
 
446,403
✔
Image of Daniel Kelly
Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan)
 
24.2
 
232,751
Image of Jennifer Dorow
Jennifer Dorow (Nonpartisan)
 
21.9
 
210,100
Image of Everett Mitchell
Everett Mitchell (Nonpartisan)
 
7.5
 
71,895

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 961,149
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Jill Karofsky (Nonpartisan) defeated incumbent Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 7, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jill Karofsky
Jill Karofsky (Nonpartisan)
 
55.2
 
855,573
Image of Daniel Kelly
Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan)
 
44.7
 
693,134
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
990

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,549,697
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Incumbent Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan) and Jill Karofsky (Nonpartisan) defeated Edward A. Fallone (Nonpartisan) in the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court on February 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Daniel Kelly
Daniel Kelly (Nonpartisan)
 
50.1
 
352,876
✔
Image of Jill Karofsky
Jill Karofsky (Nonpartisan)
 
37.2
 
261,783
Image of Edward A. Fallone
Edward A. Fallone (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
 
12.7
 
89,184

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 703,843
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2019

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Brian Hagedorn (Nonpartisan) defeated Lisa Neubauer (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 2, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Brian Hagedorn
Brian Hagedorn (Nonpartisan)
 
50.2
 
606,414
Image of Lisa Neubauer
Lisa Neubauer (Nonpartisan)
 
49.7
 
600,433
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
722

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,207,5690
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for February 19, 2019, was canceled.

See also: Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, 2018

General election

General election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan) defeated Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 3, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rebecca Dallet
Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan)
 
55.7
 
555,848
Image of Michael Screnock
Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan)
 
44.2
 
440,808
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
829

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 997,485
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan) and Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan) defeated Tim Burns (Nonpartisan) in the primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court on February 20, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Michael Screnock
Michael Screnock (Nonpartisan)
 
46.3
 
247,582
✔
Image of Rebecca Dallet
Rebecca Dallet (Nonpartisan)
 
35.8
 
191,268
Image of Tim Burns
Tim Burns (Nonpartisan)
 
17.9
 
95,508
  Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1%
 
622

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 534,980
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Previous election results


See also

Wisconsin Judicial Selection More Courts
Seal of Wisconsin.png
Judicialselectionlogo.png
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Courts in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Court of Appeals
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Wisconsin
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 12, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "Wisconsin Constitution," accessed September 19, 2014 (Article VII, Section 4: pg.10) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "section4" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Wisconsin Constitution," accessed September 19, 2014 (Article VII, Section 24: pg.11)
  4. ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "8.50 - Special elections," accessed April 19, 2023
  5. ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Claude Covelli drops out of Supreme Court race," December 22, 2015
  6. ↑ This is a nonpartisan election, but where possible Ballotpedia draws on endorsements, court decisions, and other data to infer ideological affiliation.
  7. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates Registered 2015 Spring Election," January 8, 2015
  8. ↑ Wisconsin Election Commission, "2015 Spring Election Results," accessed September 19, 2019
  9. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Results of Spring General Election," April 7, 2009

Wisconsin courts

Federal courts:

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Wisconsin, Western District of Wisconsin

State courts:

Wisconsin Supreme Court • Wisconsin Court of Appeals • Wisconsin Circuit Courts • Wisconsin Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Wisconsin • Wisconsin judicial elections • Judicial selection in Wisconsin

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