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Chris Taylor (Wisconsin politician)

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This article is about the 21st century Wisconsin politician and judge. For the 19th-century Wisconsin politician, see Christopher L. Taylor. For others of the same name, see Chris Taylor.
Chris Taylor
Taylor in 2012
Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
for the 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 1, 2023
Preceded byMichael R. Fitzpatrick
Judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court for the Dane County Circuit
Branch 12
In office
August 1, 2020 – July 31, 2023
Appointed byTony Evers
Preceded byJill Karofsky
Succeeded byAnn Peacock
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
January 3, 2013 – July 31, 2020
Preceded byTerese Berceau
Succeeded byFrancesca Hong
Constituency76th district
In office
August 9, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded byJoe Parisi
Succeeded byMelissa Agard
Constituency48th district
Personal details
Born
Christine Lyn Taylor

(1968-01-13) January 13, 1968 (age 56)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJames Feldman
Children2
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BA)
University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD)

Christine Lyn Taylor (born January 13, 1968) is an American lawyer and former politician from Madison, Wisconsin. Taylor is a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Madison-based District IV court, since August 1, 2023. She previously served three years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge and served nine years as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing downtown Madison.[1][2][3]

Background

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Taylor and her older sister were raised by her parents in Southern California. She graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California, and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. She then attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, earning her J.D. in 1995. 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. She then became the public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin state legislature

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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.[4]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6][7]

Wisconsin circuit court

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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.

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly (2011)

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Wisconsin Assembly, 48th District Special Election, 2011[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Special Democratic Primary, July 12, 2011
Democratic Chris Taylor 3,383 31.40%
Democratic Vicky Selkowe 2,452 22.76%
Democratic Fred Arnold 1,507 13.99%
Democratic Andy Heidt 1,190 11.05%
Democratic Bethany Ordaz 1,149 10.67%
Democratic Dave De Felice 1,086 10.08%
Scattering 6 0.06%
Plurality 931 8.64%
Total votes 10,773 100.0%
Special Election, August 9, 2011
Democratic Chris Taylor 5,453 93.50%
Scattering 379 6.50%
Plurality 5,074 87.00%
Total votes 5,832 100.0%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly (2016)

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Wisconsin Assembly, 76th District Election, 2016[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 2016
Democratic Chris Taylor 33,628 82.77%
Republican Jon Rygiewicz 6,877 16.93%
Scattering 124 0.31%
Plurality 26,751 65.84%
Total votes 40,629 100.0%
Democratic hold

References

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  1. ^ a b Reilly, Briana (June 11, 2020). "Evers appoints Chris Taylor to replace Karofsky in Dane County Circuit Court". The Capital Times. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (2019). "Elected officials: Legislature" (PDF). Wisconsin Blue Book 2019-2020 (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-7333817-0-3. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  3. ^ "Taylor campaign: Announces candidacy for court of appeals". Wispolitics. 17 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Rose, Devin (August 9, 2011). "Taylor wins uncontested race for 48th Assembly District". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  5. ^ Sommerhauser, Mark (October 3, 2017). "Madison Democrat Chris Taylor named to Legislature's budget committee". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Schmidt, Mitchell (March 27, 2020). "Rep. Chris Taylor will not seek another term after nearly 10 years in state Assembly". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Statement from Rep. Chris Taylor on Not Seeking Re-election to the State Legislature in 2020". Office of Rep. Chris Taylor (Press release). March 26, 2020. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Canvass Results for 2011 Special Primary Election Assembly 48 - 7/12/2011 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. July 18, 2011. p. 1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Canvass Results for 2011 Special Election Assembly 48 - 8/9/2011 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 11, 2011. p. 1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. p. 26. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
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Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 48th district
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 76th district
2013–2020 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
for the 4th district
2023–present 		Incumbent
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