As it gets for us.
Thank you for writing.
Of Judge Taylor's to work
in the room, and that's okay.
I just want a little housekeeping
things.
First of all, we have these
little risk cards.
I just heard from my
daughter and she said, oh, I'm
just glad you're going.
And in Spanish,
so that if you have friends
that you
need to pass things out to, take
more than one, take two or three,
take a dozen.
Whatever.
The other thing is we're
doing a poll watch and
collecting names of people who would
like to become poll watchers.
It's a really easy job.
Republicans have been doing it for
years.
This is the first time we've
actually recruited poll
watcher and all you do is you go
in, you inform
the clerk that you're there, you
sign in.
And they direct you to a chair that
you sit at, and you just
sit and watch the procedures as
people vote.
It's real easy.
It's non-stressful.
So with that, also
I want to point out we have a number
of local candidates
here.
And after Judge Taylor
has a chance to
give her remarks, we're going to
ask them to speak.
So don't just jump up and rush off.
Let's give a few minutes
for our local candidates.
So with that, we'll invite Judge
Taylor to come up.
Oh, thank you. Thank you.
You've all had an opportunity to
shake hands and get to know her.
She, obviously, is very
friendly. She's a
mother, and not just a
judge, but a mother.
And not
a politician.
She's nonpartisan.
But she leans liberal,
so that's what we want.
Oh great!
Well hello everyone!
I am so happy
to be back in Black River Falls.
This is my third trip here.
I was here for the Ho-Chunk.
I went to the Pow Wow.
It was so incredible
and then I came to the Fall Festival
of course.
But it is such a thrill to be here.
Thank you all so much for coming and
Linda for the job you
do. Incredible job and
all of the volunteers.
So it's just a thrill to be
here. How many of you
are fired up to protect
our democracy?
All right!
How many of you are fired up to
protect our fundamental rights and
our freedoms?
Woo hoo!
Yeah!
Well, so am I, and
that's why I'm running to be your
next State Supreme Court Justice.
We have an incredible opportunity
to protect
and expand a pro-democracy
majority on this court that
is going to put the people of the
state of Wisconsin first,
that is gonna protect our rights,
our democracy, and stand
up to the overreach of the federal
government that we are seeing.
And I am.
Fired up to do this.
It has never been more
important in my lifetime
that we have a strong
court that cares about the people
of this state and
protecting the people and our
state.
So how did I get here?
I'll tell you a little bit about
myself.
I don't come from a family
of lawyers.
I don't come from judges.
I come from really hard working
people. My grandmother.
Single mom to my mom
for most of my mother's life and
she struggled to make ends meet
until she got a
union job.
And that union job enabled
her to earn a
fair wage and to support my mother
and her two brothers and to help
her three kids go
to college.
They all became public school
teachers and
I learned from my grandmother, who I
was so close with, that
laws...
That lift people up and
help people improve their lives,
allow working people not
just to survive, but to thrive.
And I want everyone in the
state of Wisconsin to have the
opportunity to thrive,
so I decided that one of
the most important things I could do
was help bring the law to life
and represent people and make sure
that they are getting access to
justice. So here I am.
I graduated from law school 30 years
ago. More than that, actually.
And I have a really diverse,
rich legal career.
And I think it makes me really
uniquely qualified to be on the
state Supreme Court.
I started out as an attorney in
private practice, just representing
your average person who was
having legal problems, mostly in
the family law area.
So after many years of doing that,
I got a job with
Planned Parenthood.
I was the law and policy director
for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
And I worked to make sure
that reproductive health care
was available and accessible and
that individuals got the right to
make their own private health care
decisions.
After I was there for
about eight years, and in 2011,
I did a big U-turn.
I did something I never thought in
my wildest dreams I would do.
I ran for the state legislature.
I'd never run for anything except
junior class president in high
school.
So it was real a
big turn, but I was worried about
our state in 2011.
We were seeing the rollback of
funding for public education,
workers' rights, women's rights.
And it worried me.
It worried me for my two young kids.
My kids were real little when I ran.
I had a six-month-old baby and a
four-year-old son.
But I wanted the best for them, like
I do for every single child
in our state.
So I ran in a six way primary.
I won, which
I didn't know necessarily.
I said to my husband the night
before the election, do you think I
could win?
And he was like, yeah, I
think you could.
So that was just absolutely
thrilling, but I was so honored
and privileged to be in the
legislature for nine years during
some really tough years.
And I did my best
to work on things that I thought
were really important for the people
of this state, access to affordable
healthcare, making sure our
water was clean and our
environment was safe.
And of course, doing what I
could to make sure working people
who actually made the pie.
Got a slice of it instead of the
little crumbs.
By 2020 though, I was
ready to go back to the courtroom.
I missed being
in the judicial system
and being active.
And I thought
it would be an honor and a
privilege and I thought I could do a
lot of good as a judge.
So I went through the application
process and I got appointed by
Governor Evers to the Dane County
Circuit Court. And then I was
elected that next
fall. On the circuit court,
my job and my priority
was to make sure that
everyone was treated fairly, that I
listened to people.
I gave them the chance to
present their cases and then I
respected the constitutional rights
of victims that were before me
and the accused.
In 2023, I had
an opportunity to run for the Court
of Appeals where I am now.
I was elected by Wisconsinites
from 24 counties,
red, blue, and purple counties.
And that's where I sit.
Why do I want to run for the
state supreme court?
I alluded to it when I first
started talking.
It has never been more important in
my lifetime to have a
strong court to defend
our democracy.
Well, how does the state Supreme
Court do that?
The state Supreme court holds the
other two branches accountable when
they act unconstitutionally
or unlawfully.
And let me give you an example of
how our state supreme Court has done
this. In the last couple
years, the State Supreme Court
struck down
legislative districts.
They found them to be
unconstitutional.
And as a result,
new legislative maps were passed.
They were more competitive for
people.
That is an example of our State
Supreme Court striking
down activities of
our legislature that are
unconstitution.
That was crucial.
And it made, thank you,
it made a difference to our
state.
How else does our state Supreme
Court protect our democracy?
Well, if you all remember after
the 2020 election,
there was an effort to overturn our
election, which no,
really no independent group was
saying was unfair or there was
anything wrong with it.
Our state Supreme court rejected
that attempt to overturn or election
by one vote,
just one vote.
Okay, that's how
important our state Supreme
Court is.
The other way that our
state supreme court is so important
right now is protecting our rights.
We have constitutional
rights to speech,
to peacefully protest,
to walk down the street and not be
subjected to unreasonable government
intrusion.
And we must have
the right to make our own
private decisions about our
lives.
And all of these things are
at stake in this election.
Our state Supreme Court just last
year struck down
an 1849
abortion ban.
I'm going to say the year again,
1849,
that if implemented would have
criminalized abortion care
under most circumstances.
Sent physicians to jail.
So that's how critical
our state Supreme Court is.
These really important decisions
are only being made by one vote.
And there is a
four to three pro-democracy
majority on the court now.
However, we have five
elections coming up.
Four after my election.
The composition of this court can
change on a dime.
And we must make sure this
court is independent.
This court stands up for the people,
stands up our rights and our
democracy.
Now let's talk about my opponent.
We, on the big issues, the
important issues of the day, could
not be. I have
spent my life trying
to protect and defend people's
rights, and she has spent a large
portion of her legal career trying
to take those rights away.
She was Governor Walker's
attorney.
She defended some of,
I think, the most harmful pieces
of his agenda,
rolling back workers' rights, our
right to vote, reproductive health
care. We
cannot depend on her.
Protect our very important
rights. She has been a vocal
opponent of access to reproductive
health care, calling the overturning
of Roe versus Wade very wise.
And she has stated that she would
have implemented that 1849
abortion ban,
jeopardizing the health and the
lives of Wisconsin women.
Let's talk about democracy.
Well, what has she done for that?
Well, she was the
attorney who defended Scott
Walker's or a Mandarin map.
In her last race in
2022, she was
supported by the same individuals
who tried to overturn our election,
including former Justice
Michael Gabelman.
And as a judge on
the Court of Appeals,
she has written a recent decision
that would have released
voters' private information
to the public.
Now, thankfully, that was overturned
by our state Supreme Court.
Anybody guess?
Some of the same out-of-state
right-wing billionaires who
were in our state last
year trying to buy a
seat on our state Supreme Court.
We are now seeing Governor Scott
Walker come in and activate his
network of dark money groups
to support her.
And we know
they want her
to be in the court, because she will
be a rubber stamp for their agenda.
I'm not going to lie
to the state Supreme Court.
So what that means
for us is
we need to mobilize.
I need your support.
I'm running to be a justice for you,
not some out-of-state billionaire.
And the most powerful special
interests.
The people of Wisconsin deserve a
justice who's gonna stand up
for them, for their rights,
for fairness, for
our democracy, for our state.
Okay, so that is what is
at stake.
We can win this race
together.
We have an opportunity to say that
loudly and clearly
on April 7th.
So please talk to your
friends, your family members,
your neighbors, let them know what's
at stake.
Tell them you want a court where
all Wisconsinites have a fair
chance.
You want a Court that protects our
democracy and our elections.
And you want to court that's not for
sale to the highest bidder.
We can elect a justice
for the people.
That's me. So let's do this
together. Are you with me?
Thank you.
Thank you all so much.
I am so excited to partner with
you to win this race.
We've got to get the word out now.
But we can do it.
We can do together.
So I'm happy to, Linda.
I don't know if you want me
to take questions or?
Sure. OK.
Go ahead. And I do want to point
out, we are, I should have said
this, PBS is here, they are
doing a-
I should've said that before I
talked, but if you don't want to be
on camera or if you're- You
know, it might be
too late, but if you
want to ask me a question privately,
that's okay, too.
I will stick around, okay,
for that. So don't feel like this
is, you know, I'm cognizant
that maybe people don't want to.
Let's all stick together and
embarrass another billionaire with
a failed attempt at buying a
judgeship in Wisconsin.
Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you. Have a nice day.
Have a good night. Good night.
Has he made any moves to get
involved in this race yet,
Mr. Musk?
Oh, Mr Musk.
I don't think we're going to
physically see him, but I
think we'll feel his money.
He didn't get involved the
last race until mid-February,
so we're watching that very
closely. But there are a lot of
other out-of-state billionaires
who supported my
opponent in the past, and
they're giving her money.
Per average.
Per average contribution
from individuals is
$1,800.
Mine is like $83.
Thank you very much.
So, that right
there, you can tell, you
know, who has the grassroots
support, but we've
got to mobilize it.
I mean, we have to make sure that
people are energized to turn out.
I think you'd have to raise in order
to win.
A lot.
Oh,
yes. Oh gosh.
Yes. Yeah, probably closer to 10
You've all got donations down
below.
Envelopes.
And when you have them filled out,
just raise your hand and I'll come
and get them.
And I cannot ask for money
from anybody. No, I know.
No, I know, you tell her.
Linda can do what she wants.
I am not doing that.
She's not shy either.
I know!
I don't think I...
I know! I don't think anybody ever called
you Shyland.
No.
Anybody else?
Well, I thought I heard not too long
ago on public radio
that you
raised 200 million and your
opponent raised $200,000.
Oh, not quite,
not quiet.
That would be nice.
That would, wow,
now that would be a record.
No, I raised through
December 31st,
2.6 million,
and she raised a
little less than 200,000.
Yes, so yes,
I mean, I am working really
hard to have the resources, because
I'm not running for the
billionaires.
I can't pick up the phone and make
my ten calls to the
whatever how many billionaires and
she can I mean that's the difference
But, you know,
one thing in your favor is,
like you say, you're getting small,
smaller donations.
That means you're giving donations
from a lot of people.
Exactly.
And if she gets big
donations, it's from
a relatively small number of
people
And people who can't really vote,
can't vote. I am, I
am so, I have, people
are supporting this campaign from
every corner of this state, every
county, every little town,
big town, I mean, I'm so excited.
I think I had.
Over 19,000 contributions.
And 15,000 of those
contributions were for $100 or
less. And I think her
total was like 116 through
our last report.
Total donations.
So I am so
grateful for the support,
but we've got to get through the
finish line.
Thank you.
We have 59 days to
do this.
We can do it.
But it's going to take you
all doing whatever you love.
You don't have to do everything,
just do something.
Just do something, whether it's
sending an email to your friends and
family, writing a
postcard, making a phone
call.
Baking cookies for volunteers.
That is really important to
keep people going.
Thank you.
But let's, you know, I'm just so
excited that we can do something,
that we can make a
difference in our state.
And that is so inspiring.
And the work you all do is so
inspiring to me.
So I have a question.
Do you think in your next near
term, can we get rid of
the gerrymandered congressional
districts?
So let me tell you what's going on
with that.
So there has been two
cases that have been
filed right directly
to the state Supreme Court.
Those cases have been
assigned to panels
of trial court judges who
are going to make the fact finding
and do the trials.
So that is what's doing on right
now with those cases.
Probably they will end up coming
back. To the state Supreme Court.
So I can't say how I would rule
on any case, no judge pair.
But I very much
take to heart George Washington's
words that the people
have the right to pick
their elected representatives.
That's the founder of
our nation, right?
That is the spirit
of our democracy.
Well, that all occurred, do you
think, before 28 elections?
Probably.
I would imagine.
I would image, I don't know, a staff
code schedule for the trial boards.
So I can't imagine it would happen
before the 26th election.
I think that would be hard.
Yeah.
They're going to probably have
trials and evidence and
all that. So I think it would be
probably difficult.
But I would have imagined sometime
this year. I think their trials are
happening next year.
Good.
Well, I am so excited to work with
you all.
We can do it, and I really
appreciate you all coming out.
This is such a great turnout.
And any questions?
We have literature, we have
placards, we will have the art
signs, I'm told, next week.
Yay!
So, but we want to make sure
that.
You all have what you need and
we're going to have a billboard for
you up on highway 54
heading towards the casino so
everybody watch out for that
and we'll get the yard
signs out.
I've never had a bill board.
All right?
All right.
I'm sure you're smiling.
I hope so!
Oh, yeah. Well, yeah,
it's your standard picture.
Oh, OK. There you go.
I think that's a good one.
I just have one question, why do
I carry my U.S.
Passport 24-7?
And I am also worried about
Rodney.
He's running for Congress.
He will be deported.
Let me say this, I
hear a lot of fear
from people when
I go around the state.
People are worried.
They have loved ones and
family members and kids
and grandkids in
Minnesota and we have seen
what has gone on.
It underscores why it's
so important to have
courts that are going to
hold everyone accountable when
they break the law.
That are and everyone is
subject to the law.
No one is exempt.
We have a constitution
that everyone has
to respect.
So I understand
as I go around there's a lot of
fear but we
have got to have a strong court to
stand up for our right and
for our democracy and to
make sure everyone is accountable.
The most powerful and the
most wealthy.
Still must be held accountable
when they break the law.
Unfortunately, it's a person who
started the question in our
Supreme Court, everyone,
in the relations of a lot of these
issues.
They sit back there and they sit on
their hands.
They don't say yes, they don't know,
they just let Trump do
what he wants.
It's pretty ugly.
So one of
the core functions that we
are so dependent
on from the judiciary is that
function I talked about, holding the
other branches of government
accountable when they act unlawfully
or unconstitutionally.
That is what the judiciary does,
right? That's the checks and
balances.
It's supposed to.
And I think, honestly, if
you look at these lower federal
courts, the district courts, They're
working really hard.
They are inundated with cases.
They are trying to make fair
decisions.
And it goes up.
It might get to the Court of
Appeals.
Those that reach the US Supreme
Court, so many are
stayed or overturned on this
shadow docket that they're using
so much.
And so that's a reality, but
I think these lower federal courts
are really trying hard
to make their decisions.
But we don't just have the federal
system, we have our state courts.
So let's not forget about the state
courts, the state court are really
important here.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you all so much.
I'm going to stick around.
I know we have other jets
that I can float around.
But I really appreciate your
attention. Thank you all.
You're welcome.
Thank you.