Morning Digest: Another conservative justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is retiring

Liberals could keep their majority until 2033

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler, center, watches as Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel makes his concession speech at his election night party on April 1, 2025. (credit: Andy Manis / Associated Press)

Leading Off

WI Supreme Court

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler announced on Monday that she would not seek reelection next year, just weeks before voters decide an election for a seat held by a fellow conservative justice who also opted to retire.

“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,” Ziegler said in a statement.

Ziegler was first appointed as a trial judge by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1997, then ran for an open seat on the Supreme Court a decade later. With the support of powerful business interests, Ziegler easily won by a 58-42 margin, though she was soon reprimanded by her new colleagues for failing to recuse herself from 11 cases in which her husband had a financial interest.

A year after Ziegler joined the high court, conservatives secured a firm majority that would remain unbroken for a decade-and-a-half. One reason that streak may have lasted as long as it did is that progressives did not challenge Ziegler when she was up for reelection in 2017, allowing her to win a second 10-year term uncontested.

After years of effort, though, liberals finally took a 4-3 majority on the court in 2023, when Janet Protasiewicz flipped a conservative seat in a battle that set records for its enormous price tag.

That in turn triggered a meltdown by Ziegler and another conservative hardliner, Rebecca Bradley, whose seat is on the ballot next month. After Protasiewicz was sworn in, Ziegler appeared to leak internal court emails to express her displeasure over the new liberal majority’s approach to running the court, labeling it a “hostile takeover,” an “unprecedented coup,” an “illegal experiment,” and a “historical disgrace.”

Ziegler’s tantrum had no impact, though, as she regularly found herself in an unfamiliar position: in the minority on major cases, including one that invalidated gerrymandered GOP maps and another holding that an 1849 law banning abortion no longer had force.

Conservatives had a chance to reclaim the majority last year when a liberal justice retired, but they lost badly after a $25 million intervention by Elon Musk failed to move the needle. Just before Labor Day, Bradley said she wouldn’t run again, giving liberals the chance to expand their advantage to 5-2 on April 7.

Right now, they appear to be on track to do just that. The liberal candidate, Judge Chris Taylor, has far outraised her conservative opponent, Judge Maria Lazar, and outside groups have not stepped in to make up the gap. Overall, without control of the court on the line, the race has been much quieter—and far less expensive—than the last two contests.

Should Taylor prevail next month, liberals would be able to leg out to a 6-1 majority if they can also flip Ziegler’s seat next year. If that scenario comes to pass, the soonest conservatives could win back control would be 2033.

---

Primary season just got underway last week, but we already have another election night on our hands! And since we’ll have quite a few more this year, I want to encourage you to join our private Discord server, where you can track all the results with a brilliant and friendly band of fellow election nerds.

All you have to do is upgrade to a paid subscription, which costs $7 a month or a steeply discounted $60 a year, if you haven’t already. Once you do, you’ll get an email with instructions on how to join. It’s all super easy, so see you there!

---

Election Night

Voters in Mississippi will choose candidates in party primaries on Tuesday, while special elections are taking place for a potentially competitive district in the New Hampshire House and for the Georgia congressional seat previously held by Marjorie Taylor Greene.

MS-02

The marquee matchup in Mississippi is in the 2nd Congressional District, the state’s lone Democratic seat in the House, where Rep. Bennie Thompson faces a challenge from attorney Evan Turnage.

Like a majority of district residents, both candidates are Black, though they otherwise cut very different profiles. Turnage, who is 34, has argued that residents haven’t benefited from the 78-year-old incumbent’s long tenure.

“We live in the poorest district in the poorest state in the country. That was true when I was 1, when our congressman was first elected. It’s true today,” Turnage said in one ad. “If our congressman’s 33 years in office had helped build up this district, built wealth and health in this district, there’d be no need for change.”

Thompson defended his service in an interview with the New York Times, saying, “My legislative record on voting for uplifting districts like mine is perfect.” He also questioned the depth of his opponent’s commitment to the district. (Until last year, Turnage had worked in Washington, D.C., for some time, most recently as counsel to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.)

“You can’t show up four months before the election and gain a lot of credibility, in my humble opinion. You have to spend time ingrained, working with people in this community who want to make a difference. And I’ve never left this community.”

Thompson has outspent Turnage around $580,000 to $160,000, according to the most recent fundraising reports. Whoever wins the nomination will be a lock to hold this seat in November, though the presence of a minor third candidate could require an April 7 runoff.

GA-14

A dozen Republicans, along with three Democrats, a Libertarian, and an independent, have all piled into the race to succeed Marjorie Taylor Greene in northwest Georgia’s deep-red 14th District.

The favorite is Lookout Mountain District Attorney Clay Fuller, who has the backing of Donald Trump and the deep-pocketed Club for Growth, which has spent more than $500,000 on his behalf.

However, the huge field will make it difficult for him to win outright on Tuesday night. That’s because all candidates from all parties run together on a single ballot. If no one takes a majority, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, would advance to an April 7 runoff.

Fuller’s top rivals include former state Sen. Colton Moore, former Paulding County Commissioner Brian Stover, Dalton City Councilman Nicky Lama, and pastor Tom Gray. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris is the most prominent Democrat running, though he lost to Greene 64-36 in 2024.

NH State House

New Hampshire Republicans are spending heavily to defend Carroll County’s 7th District, which state Rep. Glenn Cordelli gave up last year after reportedly moving out of state.

The race pits Republican Dale Fincher, a Christian nonprofit speaker and investment firm founder who won the GOP nomination as a write-in, against Democrat Bobbi Boudman, a financial analyst who lost bids against Cordelli in both 2022 and 2024.

Despite Boudman’s double-digit defeats, though, Republicans have been “pulling out all the stops” to help Fincher, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan.

Fincher raised $25,000 for the race while outside GOP groups, including the Republican State Leadership Committee, reported taking in $36,000—large sums given the tiny size of the district. Boudman, by contrast, raised $12,000.

The district, which includes the towns of Ossipee, Tuftonboro, and Wolfeboro, voted 54-45 for Donald Trump in 2024, according to calculations by The Downballot. Republicans hold a 214-177 advantage in the 400-member state House, with one seat held by an independent and the rest vacant.

Senate

OK-Sen

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who seemed to express some interest in succeeding Sen. Markwayne Mullin last week, announced on Monday that he would “not be a candidate for any elected public office this year.”

Other Oklahoma Republicans, however, are gearing up for bids to replace Mullin, whom Donald Trump said he would nominate as Homeland Security secretary after ousting Kristi Noem last week. None has yet kicked off a campaign, though Rep. Kevin Hern will reportedly do so this week.

Governors

NM-Gov

Only two New Mexico Republicans received enough support at the GOP’s convention on Saturday to be assured of a spot on the June 2 primary ballot, though three other contenders can still gather additional signatures to qualify.

Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull earned the backing of 55% of delegates, while businessman Doug Turner received 24%. No one else cleared the necessary 20% threshold.

That means businessman Duke Rodriguez, state Sen. Steve Lanier, and former state Public Regulation Commissioner Jim Ellison must submit an additional 2,351 signatures to election officials, an amount equal to the total every candidate was required to collect before the convention. Both Rodriguez and Lanier say they’ve already done so, while Ellison did not respond to a request for comment from Source NM.

Democrats, meanwhile, also met over the weekend, and both candidates in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham won enough votes to avoid needing further signatures. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, however, ran well ahead of Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, winning by a 74-26 margin.

TN-Gov

Retired NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore said he would not seek the Republican nod for Tennessee’s open governorship late last week, just days after the Nashville Banner reported he had pulled papers for a possible bid.

As multiple outlets noted, Wilmore likely did not satisfy the state’s residency requirements, which specify that candidates for governor must have lived in Tennessee for seven years prior to Election Day. Wilmore had lived in Texas for many years before retiring from NASA last year.

The GOP primary is a battle between Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. John Rose. The two are vying to succeed Gov. Bill Lee, who cannot run again due to term limits.

House

CA-06

California Rep. Kevin Kiley said on Monday that he’d continue caucusing with the House GOP, following his announcement just ahead of Friday’s filing deadline that he’d appear on the ballot this year without a party label rather than as a Republican.

Kiley added that he would ask the House clerk to designate him as an independent, but as long as he remains part of the Republican caucus—and more importantly, continues to vote with GOP leaders on all-important “rules” that govern how bills make it to the chamber floor—his official label in Congress will have no impact on how the House operates.

Other Races

GA Public Service Commission

Three Democrats and three Republicans filed to run for a pivotal open seat on Georgia’s Public Service Commission ahead of Friday’s deadline.

They’ll all compete to succeed incumbent Republican Tricia Pridemore, who announced last month that she would not seek reelection. Should Democrats win the race to succeed Pridemore and defend the seat of another commissioner, Democrat Peter Hubbard, they’d take a 3-2 majority on the board this fall.

Hubbard could face a rematch with the man he ousted in a special election landslide last fall, Fitz Johnson, though Johnson has to get through a primary first.

Poll Pile

• AL-Sen (R): Remington Research Group: Barry Moore: 22, Steve Marshall: 16, Jared Hudson: 12, undecided: 47.

• GA-Sen (R): JMC Analytics: Mike Collins: 31, Derek Dooley: 13, Buddy Carter: 11, undecided: 43.

• IL-Sen (D): Tulchin Research for Healthcare For Action: Raja Krishnamoorthi: 39, Juliana Stratton: 28, Robin Kelly: 12.

  • A mid-February Tulchin poll for a different client had Krishnamoorthi up 42-26 on Stratton, with Kelly at 10.

• TX-Sen (R): Slingshot Strategies for Texas Public Opinion Research: Ken Paxton: 49, John Cornyn: 41.

  • When respondents were asked how they would vote if Donald Trump were to endorse Cornyn, Paxton would lead 44-43. If Trump were to endorse Paxton, Paxton would lead 58-32.

• TX-Sen: Public Policy Polling for Senate Majority PAC:

  • James Talarico (D): 44, Cornyn (R): 43

  • Talarico (D): 47, Paxton (R): 45

• GA-Gov: JMC: Rick Jackson: 37, Burt Jones: 22, Brad Raffensperger: 11, Chris Carr: 4, undecided: 25.

• MD-05 (D): GQR for Rushern Baker: Rushern Baker: 22, Harry Dunn: 15, Wala Blegay: 11, Nicole Williams: 9, Quincy Bareebe: 6, Arthur Ellis: 5, Adrian Boafo: 3, Harry Jarin: 1, undecided: 28.

Correction: The Illinois Senate poll from Tulchin Research was conducted for Healthcare For Action, not Raja Krishnamoorthi.