Christine Lyn Taylor (born January 13, 1968) is an American lawyer, jurist, and former politician from

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. She is a 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 ...

, sitting on the Madison-based 4th district court since 2023. She previously served three years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge (2020–2023) and served nine years as a Democratic member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

(2011–2020) representing downtown Madison. She will be a candidate for

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 ...

in the 2026 election.

Early life and education

Taylor and her older sister were raised by her parents in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. She graduated from

Birmingham High School Birmingham Community Charter High School (formerly Birmingham High School) is a charter high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was founded in 1953 ...

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles and received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1990. She then attended the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...

, earning her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1995. She remained in Wisconsin, was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin, and worked as a private practice attorney in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and Madison from 1996 to 2002. She then became the

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

director for

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Legislature (2011–2020)

In 2011, a vacancy occurred in the Wisconsin State Assembly due to the resignation of Joe Parisi, who had been elected to serve as Dane County Executive. Taylor had not held any public office before, but topped the crowded six-person Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

with 31% of the vote. She faced no Republican opponent in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, and won 5,459 votes; there were 591 write-in votes against her. The heavily Democratic 48th District included parts of the east and far east sides of Madison, parts of Monona and McFarland and the towns of Blooming Grove and Dunn. But this would be the final year for these district boundaries, as new districts had already been passed by the Republican Legislature. In 2012, she would run for re-election in the redrawn 76th district, which contained parts of downtown Madison and northeast Madison—including the

Wisconsin State Capitol The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Governor of Wisconsin, Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the ...

. In 2017, after Representative Peter Barca announced he would step down from his role as Democratic minority leader in the Assembly, Taylor was considered a strong candidate to replace him. However, she supported

Gordon Hintz Gordon N. Hintz (born November 29, 1973) is an American public administrator and Democratic politician from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He is the county executive of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, since April 2025. He previously represented the Osh ...

for the role and was appointed to the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee shortly thereafter. In addition to Joint Finance, Taylor served on the Joint Legislative Council and the Assembly committees on

Federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

and Interstate Relations, on Finance, and on

Public Benefit In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, or alternatively, what is ...

Reform. Taylor was re-elected in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, but only faced an opponent in 2016, when she won 83% of the vote. On March 26, 2020, Taylor announced she would not be a candidate for re-election in 2020.

Wisconsin courts (2020–present)

On June 11, 2020, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced he was appointing Taylor to the Wisconsin circuit court in Dane County. Taylor replaced Judge

Jill Karofsky Jill Judith Karofsky (born July 15, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist from Madison, Wisconsin. She is a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court since 2020, and has been elected by her colleagues on the court to serve as the next Chief ...

, who had been elected to the

in the April 2020 General Election. Taylor was subsequently elected to a full term as judge in the April 2021 election. In 2023, she was elected to the

, running without opposition in the election to succeed outgoing judge Michael R. Fitzpatrick. Just a year after her election, Taylor was discussed as a potential candidate for

in the 2025 election after incumbent justice

Ann Walsh Bradley Ann Walsh Bradley ( Ann Ellen Walsh; born July 5, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist, and the 28th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She is the longest currently-serving justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court; she was first elec ...

announced her retirement. Taylor ultimately did not choose to run in that election, instead endorsing eventual winner Susan M. Crawford. Shortly after the 2025 Supreme Court election, Taylor announced that she would be a candidate in the

2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election The 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election will be held on April 7, 2026, to elect a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term. The incumbent justice, Rebecca Bradley, has announced that she will run for re-election. Bradley ...

, challenging incumbent justice

Rebecca Bradley Rebecca Lynn Grassl Bradley (born August 2, 1971) is an American lawyer, and justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2015. She has been a state judge in Wisconsin since 2012. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Scot ...

. Shortly after announcing her campaign, Taylor received the endorsement of all four liberal justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly, 48th district (2011)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Special Democratic Primary, July 12, 2011 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Special Election, August 9, 2011

Wisconsin Assembly, 76th district (2012–2016)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 2016

References

External links

Campaign website (2026)

Representative Chris Taylor (2019)
at

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

* * * * ''Follow the Money'' - Chris Taylor *
20182016201420122011
campaign contributions , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Chris 1968 births 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature Birmingham High School alumni Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Lawyers from Madison, Wisconsin Living people Politicians from Los Angeles Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Wisconsin circuit court judges Women state legislators in Wisconsin