Lazar spent $225K on GOP consultants despite independence claims

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Maria Lazar insists that she is politically independent, even though she has spent close to $225,000 on Republican consultants.

Lazar, who currently sits on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, is competing in the April 7 election to replace retiring state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley. While the race is technically nonpartisan, Lazar is considered a conservative and has the backing of the Wisconsin GOP.

According to disclosures filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, Lazar paid $24,500 to Aspect Consulting between 2021 and 2026. The firm, which is based in Middleton, WI, helps candidates, officeholders, and lobbyists stay in compliance with campaign finance laws.

Lazar’s paperwork declaring her Supreme Court candidacy lists Aspect Consulting principal Lane Ruhland as her campaign’s point of contact. Ruhland rejoined Aspect Consulting in 2021 after previously working for the firm from 2015 to 2017.

In 2020, Ruhland was involved in a plot to get rapper Kanye West on the ballot as a presidential candidate in Wisconsin. The scheme was hatched by President Donald Trump and Republican operatives as an effort to divert votes away from Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

According to Vice, Ruhland was personally tasked with delivering signatures to the Wisconsin Elections Commission that would secure West’s place on the ballot. Ruhland, however, did not deliver the signatures before the qualifying deadline.

West is an ally of Trump and has since come under fire for making many antisemitic remarks, including praising Adolf Hitler.

Ruhland also worked for former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and the GOP-aligned Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

Between 2021 and 2026, Lazar paid $198,500 to Rally Digital, a consulting firm owned by Matt Walker, the son of the former governor. The firm provides digital marketing and advertising services.

In 2019, the younger Walker flirted with a congressional campaign in Wisconsin’s fifth district, saying he wanted to run as a “counter-voice” to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Lazar’s spending on consultants cuts against her many claims of being politically independent, including at a voter meet-and-greet earlier this year.

“I’ve never been a member of any political party,” Lazar said. “I’ve never put up a sign for a political party, person, done anything at all. I don’t think it’s appropriate. Even when I worked at the Department of Justice, I felt everyone needed to think that and know that I was fair and impartial.”

Lazar has also criticized her opponent, Chris Taylor, for being a former state legislator, arguing that it would make her a biased judge.

Lazar’s campaign has been endorsed by every Wisconsin Republican in Congress.