Spring 2026 Election Results
Chris Taylor totally destroyed Maria Lazar. This isn’t surprising. Back in January we called it:
This tired playbook where [conservatives] talk endlessly and piously about impartiality and rule of law has not been working… Most people know they are the less objective, more ideologically-driven choice... In this time of Republican war crimes,ICE lawlessness,absurd immunity, and shadow docket shenanigans, conservatives claiming impartiality has gone from suspicious to totally laughable. Taylor will almost certainly whoop Lazar as a result.
And whoop, she did. Taylor’s twenty point victory is the 6th time since 2015 that liberals have defeated conservatives in Supreme Court of Wisconsin (SCOWI) races with double digit margins, and it is the largest margin of victory yet. Taylor’s victory swung most of Wisconsin’s 72 counties left.
Despite raising and spending a fraction of what prior SCOWI candidates raised, and not resorting to harmful dirty attack ads about lenient sentencing, Chris Taylor won by more than the other SCOWI candidates. This result supports our argument that money is not what matters in elections; integrity and candidate quality does. I wish the Democratic Establishment would learn this lesson, rather than throwing money around to try and drive good candidates out of primaries.
Overperforming the Democrats
Democratic pundits are excited about this race foretelling November, but they aren’t necessarily correct. Chris Taylor was not running as a Democrat, she was running as a liberal. Just like the 5 successful liberal SCOWI justices before her. Liberals have been winning landslides in Wisconsin since 2015, while Democrats keep losing, or barely eking out a win.
What have Chris Taylor, Susan Crawford, and Janet Protosewicz got that Tony Evers, Mandela Barnes, Kamala Harris, and Rebecca Cooke didn’t have? Or, better put, what baggage do the Democratic politicians have that isn’t encumbering the SCOWI candidates? Its the Democratic Party brand.
When Wisconsinites hear the word Democrat, they think: weak. They think about candidates who pander to them, but won’t stand up to Republican cruelty. They think of corporate donors. Many think of genocide deniers and warhawks. Many of us think: Republican lite. So, so many loyal Democratic voters think: the lesser evil.
That’s a shit brand, and if the party sticks with it, the outcomes in November will look nothing like this election. Taylor’s victory shows us that, if we can kick out the genocide deniers and defeat the corporate shills in this summer’s primaries, November could bring Wisconsin a Democratic trifecta that delivers.
Incumbents Sweep County Board Race
Unfortunately, Milwaukee County voters largely chose to stick with that status quo. There were not enough challengers in our county races, and none who ran from a confident, clear-eyed socialist or left-of-center position.
Our biggest disappointment other than no one challenging genocide freak Sheldon Wasserman on the East Side, was Stacy Smiter’s loss against Felesia Martin. Smiter’s challenge drew our attention to Martin, whose podcast interview on Facts Over Feelings really epitomised much of what’s wrong with the machine politics in Milwaukee. Her story about how she waited until the do-nothing supervisor who preceded her was ready to retire, because “we’ve gotta respect our elders,” is sad.
Martin also ran dirty. She tried to invalidate Smiter’s nomination papers. Then, her friend Michelle Bryant frivolously accused Smiter of fraud because he survived prison. On election day, another friend of hers Mabel Lamb who was working the polls as an election inspector, actually called Martin and had her speak on the phone with one of Smiter’s supporters from inside the polling place!
Despite these crooked antics (or maybe because of them), Martin held her seat with 70.43% of the vote. This is not how representative democracy is supposed to work. Milwaukee, we deserve better, and I really hope we shift gears to galvanize around strong change candidates in the legislative primaries.
We’ve also been casually tracking the conservative feud going on in the southwestern part of Milwaukee County between Steve Taylor and Kathleen Vincent on one side, and Patti Logsdon on the other. It seems the more racist half won on Tuesday. Incumbent bootlicker Logsdon beat Muslim Republican Maqsood Kahn by 12.5 points, and Ryan Antzack, the Trumpist also-ran who’s been charged twice with cheating at elections, got a surprising 32.3% against Vincent. Something foul is festering among white people in the southwest corner of Milwaukee County. If you live or work down there and have any insights, please write us a story about it! Email MilwaukeeBeagle@gmail.com
Bright Spots Around the State
Outside of Milwaukee County, we have some good news! First, Alicia Halvensleben defeated Scott Allen, one of Wisconsin’s most hateful politicians, in the Waukesha mayor’s race. Halvensleben is a Waukesha Alder and Common Council President and an activist with LGBT Waukesha. Allen went to a Christian Nationalist boot camp and, as a State Representative, introduced legislation to ban gender affirming care and books in libraries, but allow concealed carry at schools. He’s been in the legislature since 2014, and is currently being challenged by Kevin Reilly, the brother of former Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly, who left the Republican Party after January 6. Kevin also challenged Allen in 2024, gaining ground compared to prior challengers. It would be lovely to see Allen put out of public life entirely.
Elsewhere in the state:
In Port Washington, residents opposed to data centers won a referendum against opaque tax breaks for corporations.
Amanda Peterson took one of two seats on the New Berlin School Board from the elite-backed far-right candidates.
In Ozaukee County, Democrats won a majority of races.
In Franklin, Danelle Kenney, who was endorsed by the Muslim Civic Association and who nearly defeated Patti Logsdon last cycle won district 6 seat on the Franklin Common Council.
Democrat Alison Pageunseated a long-time Republican incumbent in River Falls.
In Eau Claire, Jeremy Gragert beat a chamber of commerce candidate to lead the City Council.
I’m sure there are more! If there’s something you’re happy to see happened Tuesday that we missed, please email us at MilwaukeeBeagle@gmail.com and we’ll slide it in here!
