With less than five days to go until Election Day, Wisconsin voters had the chance to hear from State Supreme Court candidates Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor in their only debate.
Taylor has been backed by Democrats, and Lazar has been backed by Republicans. Both have said they would be independent and impartial, but they made their differences clear tonight.
"She has a very specific agenda that favors big corporations and right-wing special interests. I don't know of one public judicial endorsement that she has had. In contrast, I have the support of over 160 judges throughout the state of Wisconsin," Taylor said.
"This race is a race for a judicial seat, not a legislative seat. My opponent is using the same old political playbook, and I will tell you the problem with that is we do not want a legislator. We do not, cannot afford a legislature on the bench," Lazar said.
Taylor is on the Court of Appeals in Dane County. She worked for Planned Parenthood and was a Democratic lawmaker for 10 years before becoming a judge.
Lazar is on the Court of Appeals in Waukesha. She worked on cases at the Wisconsin Department of Justice during Governor Walker's time in office, but says she is not a member of a political party.
Both talked about their views on abortion.
"My opponent is fooling everyone in the state of Wisconsin. The state Supreme Court has ruled on abortion. It is final. It's a 20-week compromise, and I've said as a judge that I will respect and honor that," Lazar said.
"I have worked so much of my life as the policy and legal director for Planned Parenthood and in the legislature to protect a woman's ability to access reproductive healthcare and to make her own personal, private health care decisions. I supported Roe versus Wade," Taylor said.
Both were asked about elections and voting rules, especially about the SAVE Act that would require all states to have voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, plus President Trump's executive order restricting mail-in ballots.
"I'm hoping that we will continue to allow mail-in voting that would cause complete havoc, but look, this is why we need a strong state Supreme Court that's going to hold the federal government accountable. My opponent is going to be a rubber stamp for the federal government," Taylor said.
"I just absolutely have to disagree. I have never been a rubber stamp for any side whatsoever. I'm not beholden to any party. I'm not a member of a party. My opponent is a Democrat. She said as recently as March of this year to a group of people, as reported, that she is still a Democrat," Lazar said.
Taylor said she is not a member of the Democratic Party.
The debate was held by WISN 12 News.
Liberal-backed candidates have won the last three state Supreme Court races by double digits. All three wins were women judges from Dane County.
The last conservative justice to win was Brian Hagedorn seven years ago by less than 1%.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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