Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley will not seek reelection next spring, saying the best path in her “fight for liberty is not as a minority member of the Court.”
In a statement sent to WisPolitics, Bradley said she is seeking to “rebuild the conservative movement.”
“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,” she said. “That warning went unheeded, and Wisconsin has seen only the beginning of what is an alarming shift from thoughtful, principled judicial service toward bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court.”
“The conservative movement needs to take stock of its failures, identify the problem, and fix it,” she added.
The decision leaves Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor of Madison, who is a former Democratic member of the state Assembly, without a declared opponent for the April election.
Bradley’s announcement leaves no clear contender to replace her, although conservatives have a strong bench of jurists, including Waukesha-based Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, whose name has been floated in past elections.
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, Lazar said she is “seriously considering a run,” and will make her decision in the coming weeks.