On Friday, April 17, 2026, the Wisconsin Law Journal reported that Wisconsin judges may soon be required to recuse themselves from cases where prior campaign spending calls their impartiality into question. This potential change stems from a proposed rule that the state Supreme Court is slated to consider on June 4, following a petition submitted by a group of retired circuit court judges earlier this year.

Under the proposed rule, judges would be obligated to recuse themselves if they are aware, or should reasonably be aware, that support for their candidacy—whether through direct contributions, independent expenditures, or issue advocacy groups—”raises a reasonable concern about the judge’s ability to be impartial.”

The state’s high court has previously rejected efforts to implement recusal rules for judges in cases involving financial backers, but under a different ideological composition.

In 2010, a 4-3 conservative majority adopted rules written by the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce stipulating that a judge “shall not be required” to recuse solely based on an endorsement or campaign contribution. The following year, the court’s conservative majority ruled that if a justice is accused of bias and asked to recuse, only the justice can decide whether to stay on the case.

In 2017, a proposal from 54 retired jurists to establish campaign contribution thresholds that would force a judge or justice off a case involving the donor was rejected by the conservative-controlled court in a 5-2 vote, arguing it would impede free speech. Consequently, the 2010 rules have remained in effect.

The new petition was filed on January 30 by retired Dane County Circuit Judges Richard Niess, Sarah O’Brien, and John Markson, along with retired Monroe County Circuit Judge J. David Rice. The proposed rule change encompasses factors to be considered when determining impartiality, as well as a procedure for addressing recusals.

Chief Justice Jill Karofsky stated at an October 23 WisPolitics event that the court should have formal rules and guidelines in place regarding recusal, and that these should be discussed in a public hearing.

The issue of recusal has gained prominence in recent elections, with spending breaking national records in 2023 during the election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz, and again in 2025, when spending exceeded $100 million in liberal Justice Susan Crawford’s victory over Elon Musk-backed Brad Schimel.

Protasiewicz rejected calls last year from Republican legislative leaders to recuse herself from a case challenging Act 10, the state’s law restricting collective bargaining, despite having protested the law in 2011 and calling it unconstitutional on the campaign trail. She argued that those past criticisms didn’t meet the threshold for stepping away from the case. Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, however, recused himself from the Act 10 case because he provided legal counsel in creating the legislation and later defending it once it became law.

Hagedorn stated in his order last year that recusal from a case “should be rare — done only when the law requires it,” but added that recusal “is not optional when the law commands it.” Protasiewicz also rejected calls in 2023 to step away from lawsuits before the court involving the state’s legislative maps.

Liberal Justice-elect Chris Taylor won the most recent Supreme Court election with a 20-point margin. Taylor, a former public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, rejected the notion that she should recuse from cases involving her former employer, stating that she would make recusal decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Taylor sponsored legislation while in the Legislature that would have required judges to disqualify themselves from a case if they received campaign donations of $1,000 or more from a party to a case.

Taylor’s victory secured a 5-2 majority for liberals on the court, and just a week later, liberal Clark County Circuit Judge Lyndsey Brunette launched her campaign for the 2027 race to replace retiring conservative Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler. Taylor joins the court in August.

 

 

Source: Wisconsin Law Journal