State supreme courts / Wisconsin / 2027 election

Wisconsin Supreme Court election 2027

Justice Annette Ziegler is not running again, so the seat is open. Voters choose her successor on April 6, 2027.

Election
April 6, 2027
Primary
February 16, 2027 (only if three or more file)
Filing deadline
January 5, 2027
Seat
Annette Ziegler's, term ends July 31, 2027
Court now
5-2 liberal majority (as described by Wisconsin Public Radio)

Colours: liberal / conservative as described by Wisconsin Public Radio, Associated Press, Wausau Pilot & Review and PBS Wisconsin.

Checked November 5, 2026.

Candidates

Nomination papers are due January 5, 2027.

Why this seat matters

Justice Annette Ziegler, a conservative on the court since 2007 as Wisconsin Public Radio describes her, is not running again. Her term ends on July 31, 2027.

WPR counts the court as 5-2 liberal until at least 2030, after Chris Taylor won the April 2026 race by 20 points. A liberal win in 2027 would make it 6-1. Both declared candidates are described by WPR as liberals, and when Colón entered on April 28 no conservative had.

The 2025 race cost more than $100 million, a national record for a judicial race, on the Brennan Center for Justice's count as reported by AP. The previous record was the 2023 race, at $51 million.

The liberal candidate won 4 of the 6 contested races from 2016 to 2025 (2026 is not in the canvass data yet). The closest was 2019, when Brian Hagedorn won by 0.5 points.

County results

2025: Susan Crawford 55.0%, Brad Schimel 44.9%

Liberal-described won by<1010-2020-3030+
Conservative-described won by<1010-2020-3030+

Swing, 2023 to 2025

12 of 72 counties moved towards the liberal candidate.

Towards liberal<22-55+
Towards conservative<22-55+

Liberal-described candidate's margin, 2016-2025

Margins as a table
YearMarginWinner
2016-4.6Bradley
2018+11.5Dallet
2019-0.5Hagedorn
2020+10.5Karofsky
2023+11.0Protasiewicz
2025+10.1Crawford

Polls

No public polls of the 2027 race yet.

How polls did in 2023 and 2025

Final poll per pollster. Miss: poll margin minus result.

2025

PollsterFieldwork CrawfordSchimel MarginMiss
AtlasIntelMar 27-31
542 LV		53%46%+7-3.1
Trafalgar Group / InsiderAdvantageMar 28-30
1,083 LV		51%49%+2-8.1
SoCal Strategies for On Point PoliticsMar 25-26
500 LV		50%42%+8-2.1
Tyson Group for Building America's FutureMar 17-18
600 LV		48%43%+5-5.1
OnMessage for Wisconsin Manufacturers & CommerceMar 9-10
600 LV		47%47%+0-10.1
ResultApr 1, 2025
WEC canvass		55.0%44.9%+10.1

Final polls averaged Crawford +4.4; Crawford won by 10.1.

Every race since 2016

YearWinner Runner-upMarginTotal votes
2026Chris Taylor liberalOfficial canvass not loaded yet
2025Susan Crawford liberal 55.0%Brad Schimel conservative 44.9%10.12,364,887
2023Janet C. Protasiewicz liberal 55.4%Daniel Kelly conservative 44.4%11.01,843,480
2020Jill J. Karofsky liberal 55.2%Daniel Kelly conservative 44.7%10.51,549,697
2019Brian Hagedorn conservative 50.2%Lisa Neubauer liberal 49.7%0.51,207,569
2018Rebecca Dallet liberal 55.7%Michael Screnock conservative 44.2%11.5997,485
2017Annette Ziegler conservative 97.2%Uncontested506,517
2016Rebecca G. Bradley conservative 52.2%JoAnne F. Kloppenburg liberal 47.6%4.61,953,147

No seat on the ballot in 2021 or 2024. 2022: not confirmed.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: justices and elections

Sources