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]
Chris Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor in 2012 | |
| Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for the 4th district | |
| Assumed office August 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Michael R. Fitzpatrick |
| Judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court for the Dane County Circuit Branch 12 | |
| In office August 1, 2020 – July 31, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Tony Evers |
| Preceded by | Jill Karofsky |
| Succeeded by | Ann Peacock |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – July 31, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Terese Berceau |
| Succeeded by | Francesca Hong |
| Constituency | 76th district |
| In office August 9, 2011 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Joe Parisi |
| Succeeded by | Melissa Agard |
| Constituency | 48th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christine Lyn Taylor January 13, 1968 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | James Feldman |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA) University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD) |
Background
editTaylor 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
editIn 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
editOn 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
editWisconsin Assembly (2011)
edit| 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)
edit| 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Taylor campaign: Announces candidacy for court of appeals". Wispolitics. 17 November 2022.
- ^ a b Rose, Devin (August 9, 2011). "Taylor wins uncontested race for 48th Assembly District". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ Sommerhauser, Mark (October 3, 2017). "Madison Democrat Chris Taylor named to Legislature's budget committee". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. p. 26. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
External links
edit- Representative Chris Taylor at Wisconsin Legislature (Archived version)
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Chris Taylor (Wisconsin) at Ballotpedia
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Follow the Money - Chris Taylor