About 1.5 million votes were cast in the court’s election on April 7.

By Gus Pirlot, THE BADGER PROJECT

Wisconsin voters have shown increasing interest in their state’s Supreme Court races over the past decade. In 2025, nearly 2.4 million people cast ballots — the highest turnout ever recorded in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

The 2016 Wisconsin Supreme Court race was held in April on the same ballot as both the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries that saw Ted Cruz defeat Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders defeat Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. These competitive primaries are likely the cause of the increased turnout for the Supreme Court election.

Since 2017, turnout in state Supreme Court elections has climbed almost every cycle. The 2020 election drew around 1.5 million voters, the 2023 race drew about 1.8 million, and 2025 shattered all previous records. The 2026 election garnered less attention, as the ideological majority of the court was not at stake. Even so, this election’s modest dip to around 1.5 million voters can be counted on the higher end of turnouts in the court’s recent history.

Sheet 1

SCOWIS election year turnout (total number of voters)

Note: Justice Ziegler was reelected in 2017 without opposition

Note: The 2016 SCOWIS election was held on the same ballot as both parties’ presidential primaries, which were also competitive

The Badger Project is an independent news nonprofit in Wisconsin.