As Wisconsin is less than two weeks away from yet another election, appeals court judges Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar are both vying to replace retiring conservative State Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley.

The two candidates were scheduled to debate March 25 at the Marquette University Law School, but the debate was rescheduled that morning after Taylor’s campaign reported that she was ill. It was later confirmed Taylor was admitted to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with kidney stones. She has since been discharged and will take a few days to rest, her campaign said.

WISN 12 announced the debate has been rescheduled for April 2. The debate will be held at the news station’s studio with no in-person audience.

“We wish Chris Taylor a speedy recovery and look forward to a robust debate as soon as possible for the voters of Wisconsin,” Lazar’s campaign said in a statement.

Candidate backgrounds

Taylor was elected to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in 2023 after being appointed judge of the Dane County Circuit Court by Gov. Tony Evers in 2020. Before her judicial career, she served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2011 to 2020 and was the public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Lazar worked in civil litigation for the first 20 years of her career before serving as an assistant attorney general at the Wisconsin Department of Justice in 2010. During her tenure, she was tasked with defending policies from the administration of then-governor Scott Walker, including the controversial Act 10 and a 2011 Republican redistricting law that implemented one of the most aggressive legislative gerrymanders in the country.

A quieter campaign

Anyone who has been watching local television or driving through Wisconsin neighborhoods may notice that this year’s campaign has been relatively quiet compared to the highly contested 2025 race.

Last year, Wisconsin circuit court judges Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford sparred in the first statewide race since Donald Trump was elected president in 2024. Headlines were frequently dominated by monetary issues, and both candidates received millions of dollars from ideological Super PACs — Crawford from billionaires like George Soros and JB Pritzker, and Schimel from Elon Musk.

Spending in the 2026 race has been substantially lower than its predecessor. Campaign finance records show Taylor’s campaign has taken in around $4.26 million in contributions, while Lazar has taken in less than $700,000.

Voters still undecided

A March 24 Marquette Law School poll showed Wisconsin voters are still not highly tuned into the race, with 53% of registered voters saying they have yet to decide who they will be voting for. Of the rest of respondents, 23% indicated they would be supporting Taylor and 17% said they would support Lazar.

Eligible voters can visit myvote.wi.gov for any information about how and where to vote, either on Election Day or earlier.

This story was written by Sahil Gupta. He can be reached at [email protected].