2019 Wisconsin Supreme Court election


The 2019 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, to elect a justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term. The Incumbent justice, Shirley Abrahamson, retired after 43 years on the court, the longest in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Although the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices are considered nonpartisan, Abrahamson identified as a liberal and voted with the liberal 3–4 minority on the court. Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge Brian Hagedorn narrowly defeated Chief Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals Lisa Neubauer, shifting the ideology of the court towards conservatives.
This is the most recent time that a conservative candidate has won election to the court. It is also the only contested supreme court election election held since 2016 that did not see a liberal candidate win at least 55% of the vote against a conservative candidate.

Background

The 2018 and 2019 elections are the fifth instance in the court's history in which two consecutive elections were for open seats.
There was no primary held, because only two candidates ran. Had a third candidate qualified for the ballot, a primary would have been held. It is rare for contested Wisconsin Supreme Court races to be held without the need for a primary, with this being the first such instance since 1978, and the last until 2025.

Candidates

There was no Supreme Court primary in 2019, as only two candidates ran for the seat.

Declared

Declined