Ziegler to continue as Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Annette Ziegler has been reelected by her fellow justices to a second two-year term leading the state’s highest court.

The court announced Thursday that justices had voted in private to keep Ziegler in the post she first assumed in 2021. The court did not announce the vote breakdown.

The chief justice has no additional voting power on the Supreme Court. However, the person who holds the title is the administrative head of the state’s judicial system and has administrative authority over to procedures adopted by the Supreme Court.

Ziegler has served on the court since 2007. She is part of the four-justice conservative majority.

The April 4 election to replace retiring Justice Patience Roggensack will determine whether conservatives maintain their 4-3 majority or liberals take over. Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protasiewicz is running against Republican-backed Dan Kelly.

Roggensack was the first chief justice elected by fellow justices in 2015. That happened after voters approved a constitutional amendment giving justices the power to pick their chief. Before the amendment the longest-serving justice was automatically the chief.