Chris Taylor (judge)

Taylor was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 13, 1968, where her parents raised her and her older sister.^[3][4] She graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990.^[3] She then attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, earning her Juris Doctor in 1995.^[3] She remained in Wisconsin, was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin, and worked as a private practice attorney in Milwaukee and Madison from 1996 to 2002. The following year, she became the public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.^[4]

In 2011, a vacancy occurred in the Wisconsin State Assembly due to the resignation of Joe Parisi, who had been elected to serve as Dane County Executive. Taylor had not held any public office before, but topped the crowded six-person Democratic primary with 31% of the vote. She faced no Republican opponent in the general election, and won 5,459 votes; there were 591 write-in votes against her.^[5]

The heavily Democratic 48th District included parts of the east and far east sides of Madison, parts of Monona and McFarland and the towns of Blooming Grove and Dunn.^[5] But this would be the final year for these district boundaries, as new districts had already been passed by the Republican Legislature. In 2012, she would run for re-election in the redrawn 76th district, which contained parts of downtown Madison and northeast Madison—including the Wisconsin State Capitol.

In 2017, after Representative Peter Barca announced he would step down from his role as Democratic minority leader in the Assembly, Taylor was considered a strong candidate to replace him. However, she supported Gordon Hintz for the role and was appointed to the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee shortly thereafter.^[6] In addition to Joint Finance, Taylor served on the Joint Legislative Council and the Assembly committees on Federalism and Interstate Relations, on Finance, and on Public Benefit Reform.^[2]

Taylor was re-elected in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, but only faced an opponent in 2016, when she won 83% of the vote. On March 26, 2020, Taylor announced she would not be a candidate for re-election in 2020.^[7][8]

During her time in the Legislature, she "was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, gun control and unions."^[9]

On June 11, 2020, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced he was appointing Taylor to the Wisconsin circuit court in Dane County. Taylor replaced Judge Jill Karofsky, who had been elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the April 2020 General Election.^[1] Taylor was subsequently elected to a full term as judge in the April 2021 election.

In 2023, she was elected to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, running without opposition in the election to succeed outgoing judge Michael R. Fitzpatrick. Taylor was discussed as a potential candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court in the 2025 election after incumbent justice Ann Walsh Bradley announced her retirement. She ultimately did not choose to run in that election, instead endorsing eventual winner Susan M. Crawford.

Shortly after the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, Taylor announced her candidacy in the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, challenging incumbent justice Rebecca Bradley.^[10] Shortly after announcing her campaign, Taylor received the endorsement of Wisconsin Supreme Court justices Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky, Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford.^[11]

Bradley ultimately decided not to run for re-election, and Taylor instead faced fellow Court of Appeals judge Maria S. Lazar. Taylor went on to defeat Lazar in the April 2026 election, and is set to take office on August 1, 2026. Her victory is the fourth straight win for Democratic-backed candidates in Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, and gives the liberals a 5–2 majority on the court.^[12]

Taylor and her husband, college professor James Feldman, have two children.^[4]