Retirement Shakes Up 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley announced this week that she will not run for re-election when her term is up in 2025. A departure from statements she made a few months ago. This upset of the court could mean a conservative majority once again. The three-term justice did not give specifics as to why she will not run again. Only that, in the 177-year history of the state, she said only four justices will have served longer than my length of service. She went on to say, “I know I can win re-election, should I run, but it’s just time to pass the torch, bringing fresh perspectives to the court.” The announcement is another curveball for the court as it’s become a focal point for Wisconsin politics. It’s also a 180 from statements she made in November while in attendance at Janet Protasiewicz’s election night party when the balance of the court’s ideology changed for the first time in her near 30-year tenure.

Reporter:
Do you have any idea whether you’d want to run again?

Ann Walsh Bradley:
I’m absolutely going to run again. I do have — by the way, I do have an idea and it is yes, after tonight’s performance and seeing the energy in this room, I’m not only going to run, I’m going to win.

Frederica Freyberg:
In her time, she’s presided over many important cases in the state, but a Legislative Reference Bureau survey of significant Wisconsin court decisions in 2020 said, “rarely have so many cases involving the core and essential powers of the state’s political institutions been on the court’s docket.” And by 2022, it again stated “political conflict inevitably made its way onto the court’s docket,” a testament to the recent trend of high-profile issues turning to the court to make decisions. Despite the court justices officially being non-partisan, last year’s election between Dan Kelly and Janet Protasiewicz garnered a record $51 million as interests across the board poured money into the campaigns, setting the stage for another expensive election. As an incumbent, Justice Walsh Bradley would have had an edge over opponents. Candidates from both sides have expressed running in 2025.