Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor are in the final hours of debate prep ahead of Wednesday night’s only debate before the April 7 election.

The race is for the seat of retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley. The high court is now controlled 4-3 by liberal justices. Both Lazar and Taylor are appeals court judges.

“I’ve been preparing constantly,” Lazar said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which will host Wednesday night’s debate at Marquette Law School in partnership with WisPolitics. “I’ve been talking to people. I’m going to other events where we were supposed to have debates with my opponent, but she canceled everything but one. So I go talk to people. I’m talking to diverse groups. I’m answering questions. That’s my step one preparation. My step two will be getting a little down deeper and preparing a little more and getting ready to go.”

Lazar said she finds it “amusing” when people describe her as the conservative candidate in the race.

“I’m an Independent,” Lazar said. “I was never a member of a political party. I was never appointed to any judicial position. I’ve run for both of my positions. I’m a constitutional conservative. If someone would try to guess and say, ‘Oh, the conservatives are always going to go this way or that,’ I don’t.

“I’m not a rubber stamp for the Republican Party,” Lazar added. “I did apply for a judgeship, and when I was applying, the one thing I said was I will not be a rubber stamp for any party whatsoever. And oddly enough, I didn’t get that call to get that appointment.”

The most recent Marquette Law School poll showed 49% of voters approve of the way the court is handling its job.

“I think this court has taken a few steps toward partisanship, toward agendas and mandates, and I think that’s unfortunate,” Lazar said. “I think that in their hearts they try to do a good job, and I think in cases that are not maybe politically viewed by the state, they do. And I’m just concerned that in some there may be a sense that they step over some lines.”

Meanwhile, Taylor says she’s preparing for the debate “like I have throughout this campaign.”

“I’m looking at questions, obviously, that I could be asked,” Taylor told “UpFront.” “But really, my focus is on doing everything I can to communicate to the voters that I care about them, that I am passionate about the law, and I’m passionate about justice for them. So my focus is really on the voters and the people of the state of Wisconsin, and I’m working to just make sure that message is loud and clear for the people of the state.”

The former Dem lawmaker said she “cares about people’s rights” when asked about her reaction when described as the liberal candidate in the race.

“That’s what drove me to law school to begin with,” Taylor said. “I am passionate about protecting people’s rights and freedoms. I really think the law is something that unites us. It doesn’t divide us.

“Throughout my entire 30-year legal career, the thing that has been motivating for me is to make sure that people’s rights and freedoms are protected and that they get justice,” Taylor added. “So I’ve had a very diverse 30-year legal career that makes me very different than anybody else who’s on the court or the person I’m running against.”

Taylor said she approves of the current state Supreme Court: “I think we are finally seeing this court hold the legislative branch and the executive branch accountable. They did strike down these gerrymandered legislative maps that some election experts said were so gerrymandered they found that the Legislature had acted unconstitutionally, and I agree with that. I thought that was the right decision.”

See more from the show.