Judge Maria Lazar announced Wednesday her candidacy for an open Wisconsin Supreme Court seat that became available following Justice Rebecca Bradley’s departure, The Hill reported.
Lazar’s candidacy sets up a pivotal contest for Republicans to potentially regain ground on the high court.
The court currently holds a 4-3 liberal majority, but Bradley’s retirement would reduce the balance to 4-2.
“I am an independent, impartial judge who strives to follow the law and Constitution in every decision I make from the bench. It is time to restore that level of judicial dedication to the court,” Lazar said in her campaign video.
“This is a campaign to restore justice to our Supreme Court, not to place a partisan politician into a robe and on a court that stands atop our judicial system.”
Lazar serves on the 2nd District Court of Appeals after previously working as a Waukesha County circuit judge and as an assistant attorney general under former Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.
As Wisconsin’s assistant attorney general, she defended Republican-backed measures including the voter ID law, Act 10, which curbed public-sector collective bargaining; state legislative maps; and restrictions on abortion access.
“I became a judge after a long legal career, and my opponent has always been a politician first,” Lazar said in her announcement.
“My opponent spent years in the Legislature,” she said of Democrat appellate Judge Chris Taylor.
“I am fair, independent, and impartial. That is what every justice should be.”
Lazar and Taylor are competing for an open Wisconsin Supreme Court seat after Bradley announced in August she would not seek reelection in April.
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