Conservative Justice Annette Ziegler announced Monday she will retire from the Wisconsin Supreme Court when her term ends, declining to seek reelection in 2027. Her departure marks the second conservative justice to step aside, and hands the left another opening to cement its grip on a court that once belonged to the right.
The timing stings. Ziegler's announcement lands just one month before voters decide who replaces retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley in an April 7 election. Liberals already hold a 4-3 edge on the bench. If conservatives lose the Bradley seat and then fail to hold Ziegler's in 2027, the court could tilt further left for a generation.
Conservatives held a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for 15 years. That era ended in 2023 when liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz beat former Justice Daniel Kelly in a race that drew tens of millions of dollars in spending. Last year, liberal Justice Susan Crawford defeated former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel for another opening.
Now Ziegler walks away.
As the Washington Examiner reported, Ziegler will not seek a third 10-year term, and her exit compounds Republican concerns about losing influence on the court. Conservatives are already defending the Bradley seat in a tight race between conservative appellate Judge Maria Lazar and Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor, who is backed by Democrats and holds a clear fundraising advantage.
In her statement, Ziegler pointed to family, not politics, as her reason for leaving. The Washington Examiner cited her remarks:
"After three decades on the bench, now is the right time for me to step away to spend more time with my husband, kids and grandkids. I will, therefore, not be seeking reelection to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2027."
She also defended her record of broad support across party lines:
"I am incredibly proud that in all my elections I had support from a broad spectrum of legal, civic, law enforcement and political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, who believed in my commitment to fairness, ethics and the rule of law."
That kind of bipartisan credibility is exactly what Wisconsin's judiciary is about to lose.
The left wasted no time spiking the football. Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker issued a statement Monday:
"Wisconsin Republicans know a resounding rejection of their war on working people in service of their billionaire owners is coming this November and are heading for early retirement."
Remiker also called Ziegler's retirement "a five-alarm fire for the GOP." That kind of rhetoric, casting a justice's personal decision as a political rout, tells you everything about how Democrats view courts: as instruments of power, not law.
Here is where things stand for conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court:
Two consecutive losses, Protasiewicz in 2023 and Crawford last year, already erased a decade and a half of conservative jurisprudence. A third loss in April, followed by a fourth in 2027, would leave the right with little voice on Wisconsin's highest court.
Ziegler served honorably. She earned respect from both sides. But her retirement is a warning, not just a farewell. The left has poured enormous resources into judicial races in Wisconsin, and it has worked. Conservatives who treat state Supreme Court elections as afterthoughts will keep losing ground on redistricting, election law, and every other issue that ends up before the bench.
Courts shape policy long after elections end. If the right doesn't fight for every seat with the same intensity the left brings, don't be surprised when the rulings go the other way.
Judges who respect the rule of law don't grow on trees. When one retires, you'd better be ready to replace her, or someone else will.
