Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler announced she will not seek reelection when her term expires in 2027. Ziegler said she plans to complete the remainder of her current term before stepping down, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
“After three decades on the bench, now is the right time for me to step away to spend more time with my husband, kids, and grandkids. I will, therefore, not be seeking reelection to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2027,” Ziegler said.
Ziegler was first elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2007. She won the election with 59 percent of the vote. Ziegler was reelected in 2017 without opposition. She is the only justice in the past two decades to run unopposed for the court.
Before joining the Supreme Court, Ziegler held several roles in Wisconsin’s legal system. She served as an assistant United States attorney. She also worked as a special assistant district attorney. Ziegler later served as a senior judge in Washington County.
She also served as the District III deputy chief judge. Her colleagues selected her to serve two terms as chief justice of the court. Ziegler said she received broad support throughout her judicial career.
“I am incredibly proud that in all my elections I had support from a broad spectrum of legal, civic, law enforcement and political leaders – both Democrats and Republicans – who believed in my commitment to fairness, ethics and the rule of law,” Ziegler said.
Ziegler said she intends to continue serving on the court through the end of her current term.
“I look forward to finishing out the rest of my term on the court and handing the baton to a new justice in 2027,” Ziegler said.
Her departure will create an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the 2027 election.
In September, a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court judge announced that she would not run for re-election. This means there will be an open race for a seat on the court, which is currently 4-3 controlled by liberals.
Since Justice Rebecca Bradley’s decision, conservatives have lost the last two statewide Supreme Court races by more than ten points. This included an April race that broke national spending records and went to the liberals, even though billionaire Elon Musk gave a lot of money to the conservative candidate to amplify their campaign.
Newsweek noted that Bradley warned people in her message that she would not run for re-election.
“For years I have warned that under the control of judicial activists, the court will make itself more powerful than the legislature, more powerful than the governor,” Bradley said. “That warning went unheeded, and Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship is that have no place in court.”
She continued: “The conservative movement needs to take stock of its failures, identify the problem, and fix it. 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.”
In the last five elections, liberals have won four of them. In 2023, after 15 years of conservative rule, they will have the majority on the court. No matter what happens in April, leftists will have at least a 4–3 edge until 2028. This could change if a liberal gets Bradley’s open seat, though. The court will then have a 5-2 majority.
People all over the country will be interested in the race for Bradley’s old spot because the court is getting ready to hear cases about controversial topics like abortion, redistricting, election laws, and collective bargaining.