The 2019 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, to elect a justice to the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the state judicial system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In addition to hearing appeals of lower Wisconsin court decisions, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also ...

for a ten-year term. The Incumbent justice,

Shirley Abrahamson Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson (December 17, 1933December 19, 2020) was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first femal ...

, 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 Brian Keith Hagedorn (born January 21, 1978) is an American lawyer and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2019. Before his election to the Supreme Court, he served four years as a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Ear ...

narrowly defeated Chief Judge of the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

Lisa Neubauer, shifting the ideology of the court towards conservatives. This is the most recent election in which a conservative candidate has won election to the court. It is also the only contested supreme court election election held since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

that did not see a liberal candidate win with approximately 55% of the vote against a conservative candidate (as has been the outcomes of the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, and

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

elections).

Background

The 2018 and 2019 elections are the fifth instance in the court's history in which two consecutive elections were for open seats (without an

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

running). 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 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, and the last until

Candidates

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

Declared

judge * Lisa Neubauer, Chief Judge of the

Declined

, incumbent Supreme Court justice *Susan Happ, Jefferson County District Attorney, Democratic nominee for

Wisconsin Attorney General The attorney general of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Forty-five individuals have held the office of attorney general since statehood. The incumbent is Josh Kaul, ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Maria Lazar, judge of the

Waukesha County Waukesha County () is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its median income of $88,985 placed ...

Circuit Court ''(endorsed Hagedorn)''

General election

Endorsements

Debates

Polling

Results

By congressional district

Notes

References

{{Wisconsin Supreme Court elections Wisconsin Supreme Court elections

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...