Fox Valley Initiative (FVI) held its monthly public forum on February 2, 2026 at Freedom Project Academy in Appleton, hosting Judge Maria Lazar, who is a conservative running for State Supreme Court in the April 7 election.
The winner of this April 7 election will replace the retiring Rebecca Bradley, a conservative justice. At present the liberal-leaning justices have a 4–3 edge on the court and would take a 5–2 edge if the liberal candidate Chris Taylor wins the election. Judge Lazar reviewed that three justices must agree on hearing cases before the court, so being down to only two conservative justices would limit the chances of hearing cases important to conservative causes. She also discussed that, at a 5–2 liberal edge, the court will feel more emboldened to overturn Act 10, gerrymander election maps to favor Democrats, limit voter ID standards, and further loosen restrictions on abortion.
Judge Lazar stated her belief of applying the law as written and not rewriting it from the bench. She was born and raised in Milwaukee, obtained her law degree at Georgetown, spent 20 years in private practice in Milwaukee, then served as Assistant Attorney General followed by seven years as Circuit Court Judge in Waukesha County and most recently three years in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
Coming Up
FVI has received 501c4 status and is changing its name to Fox Valley Conservatives (FVC). The mission of FVC is to inform and activate the voting public.
The next monthly public forum of FVC will be on March 2, 2026, from 6:30-8PM at the Freedom Project Academy in Appleton. At the March 2 forum, candidates for the April 7 election will give speeches and hand out literature and yard signs. This will include candidates for Appleton School Board and City Council, Outagamie and Winnebago County boards, local Circuit Court and Secretary of State.