Another 2026 election, another victory!!
Yesterday, Wisconsin voters went to the polls to cast ballots in a slew of races. At the top of the ticket: a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Thanks to MVP partners’ work and Wisconsin voters’ conviction, liberal candidate Chris Taylor WON IN A LANDSLIDE — expanding the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 4-3 to 5-2.
Screenshot: Citizen Action of Wisconsin celebrating Chris Taylor’s victory.
Wisconsin is winning!
Yesterday’s election victory is part of a (strategic and not-by-happenstance) trend in Wisconsin — one of the country’s top swing states.
In 2023, MVP partners helped flip the judiciary, winning the liberal majority on the state Supreme Court and paving the way for fair state legislative maps after more than a decade of GOP-gerrymandered control. Last year, partners played a huge role in holding the majority in an election that drew national attention and firmly marked the beginning of the end of Trump and MAGA’s political ascendancy.
Our Wisconsin partners are used to getting it done when it matters most, and, yesterday, they did it again.
Photo: Wisconsin Conservation Voters writing postcards for Chris Taylor at No Kings 3.
MVP partners get it done.
MVP partners Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Fair Wisconsin PAC, Wisconsin Conservation Voters, Voces de la Frontera Action, Wisconsin Working Families Party, BLOC, and Power to the Polls helped elect Chris Taylor, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, standing up for domestic violence survivors, and fighting for working families.
Today, our partners are celebrating, reporting on their successes, and re-grouping for the midterms fight ahead. While we wait for their final tallies on the incredible work they put in to help win this race, here are few highlights:
- In the final five days of the election, Voces de la Frontera Action mobilized 2,000 voters through its Voceros por el Voto relational network and contacted 500 naturalized U.S. Citizens, helping them navigate the voting process, many for the first time. They also shared bilingual information about the candidates’ positions on key issues important to community members.
- Citizen Action Wisconsin reminded folks it’s time to vote for Chris Taylor here (shared a whopping 275 times) and here and capped off Election Day by celebrating Chris Taylor’s victory here (shared 180 times and counting!).
- BLOC (Black Leaders Organizing for Community) got voters to the polls early (with a cameo from Chris Taylor herself!), reminded voters about Election Day, and had an all-around joyful time.
- Fair Wisconsin PAC endorsed Chris Taylor and provided regular voting information and education, including a guide to Voting While Trans.
- Wisconsin Working Families Party urged voters to support Chris Taylor online and at the doors.
- Wisconsin Conservation Voters had nearly 400 volunteer shifts to write and send 20,000 postcards encouraging voters to vote for Chris Taylor.
Screenshot: Wisconsin Public Radio reporting on Chris Taylor’s victory. (Photo credit: Angela Major/WPR)
Why is this victory important? So. Many. Reasons.
Increasing the liberal majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court helps safeguard our democracy and our rights. From redistricting to abortion access to voting rights, this victory will have an impact for years to come.
Redistricting
Wisconsin knows about redistricting. The state’s gerrymandered Congressional maps — passed in 2011 and barely updated in 2022 — are dramatically skewed toward Republicans. While Wisconsin has not stepped fully into the recent Trump-instigated, mid-decade redistricting fray, the state will, like everyone else, participate in the 2030 census and the regular redistricting cycle that follows.
Even though we plan to have ended this authoritarian nightmare come 2030, we know how swiftly things can change in the political landscape in this country. Having a liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court through 2030 means we have a significantly better opportunity to ensure fair Congressional and state legislature maps are drawn and enacted in this swing state.
Fair maps mean a better chance at maintaining Democratic control of the U.S. House (after we flip it this year, of course!), and flipping the Wisconsin State Assembly and State Senate.
Abortion Access
After the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, an abortion ban dating back to 1849 went into effect in Wisconsin. In 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court — with its slim but effective 4-3 liberal majority — struck down that ban. Now, with an increased 5-2 majority and Chris Taylor’s ardent support for abortion rights, the Court is even better-positioned to uphold abortion access in the state should additional challenges arise.
Voting Rights and Election Protection
Like other swing states, Wisconsin has repeatedly been the target of voter suppression and election interference tactics, from long-standing GOP attempts to silence Black voters to Trump’s Department of Justice suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission to turn over unredacted voter data.
We’ve seen the power of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to change access to the ballot box, with, for example, banning ballot drop boxes in 2021 and then, thanks to winning a 4-3 liberal majority, restoring drop box access in 2023. Trump will stop at nothing to ensure elections go his way this year, and increasing the majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court will serve as a major bulwark against any further attempts to invalidate our elections and dismantle our democracy, especially as we head into the midterms this year and the 2028 presidential election.
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Screenshot: Politico reporting on Chris Taylor’s victory and Democrats’ electoral momentum. (Photo credit: Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Down-Ballot Bonuses and Flipping the U.S. House in November
This victory gives MVP partners much-needed momentum to turn out voters to flip two key Wisconsin U.S. House seats.
This November, MVP and our partners are targeting Wisconsin’s First Congressional District, where Republican Bryan Steil won by just 10.2% in 2024. WI-01 is south and east of Milwaukee — a Democratic stronghold. This district covers the cities of Kenosha and Racine where, yesterday, voters elected candidates endorsed by Wisconsin Working Families Party to the school board and common council.
Added bonus: Yesterday, voters in Waukesha — a Republican stronghold just north of WI-01 — elected a Democratic mayor. Mayor-elect Alicia Halvensleben was endorsed by MVP partner Blue Sky Waukesha County, and her victory deals a blow to the state GOP, which has long assumed this area of the state to be theirs.
We are also targeting WI-03, where Republican Derrick Van Orden won by just 2.7% in 2024. WI-03 is in the western part of the state, where MVP has strong on-the-ground partners, including GROWW (Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin). In Eau Claire — one of the biggest cities in the district — voters just elected climate champion, Communication Workers of America community organizer, and Wisconsin Working Families Party endorsee Jeremy Gragert as Common Council President.
Yesterday’s Supreme Court victory along with these down-ballot wins amplifies the momentum that Democrats and MVP partners have been driving since early 2025. Fueled by voters’ discontent with the Trump administration, voters are ready to keep heading to the polls this year, and MVP partners in Wisconsin will keep the drumbeat going to flip these two House seats — and the whole chamber — in November.
