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Dear John,
Summer is just around the corner, and ranked choice voting (RCV) is having a moment with use in some of America’s largest and most influential jurisdictions. RCV is already the law in the largest city in seven states, with campaigns developing in several more. |
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RCV in Arlington, Virginia
On June 20, Arlington County will become the first Virginia community to use RCV in a state-run primary, and even better – they’re using proportional RCV! We’re thrilled to see FairVote’s signature reform being used right next to our nation’s capital. This is a step towards building support for the Fair Representation Act in Congress.
Proportional RCV is already making headlines in the D.C. papers, meaning national politicians and their staff are learning how it can improve our elections. Over the past few days, Arlington’s RCV contest has been covered in the Washington Post, DCist, and more. |
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RCV in New York City
Just one week later on June 27, the nation’s largest city will hold RCV primaries for the second time. This is the first election since New York City’s council seats were redistricted – while it will be a quieter election than 2021 without any citywide offices on the ballot, we will be in for at least a few competitive, crowded races.
We already know New Yorkers support this reform because they’ve told us so! After the last NYC elections, a whopping majority of voters reported that RCV is easy to use (95%) and that they want to keep using it (77%).
Notably, two of the candidates who competed in New York’s first RCV mayoral primaries went on to be some of its biggest advocates: Maya Wiley wrote an op-ed shortly after the race explaining RCV’s benefits for women and communities of color (NYC elected its first-ever majority-women city council in 2021). Andrew Yang has made RCV a central part of his mission and joined the FairVote Action board. Even though they didn’t win, Wiley and Yang still felt the benefits of RCV. |
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RCV this fall
We expect more than 15 cities to use RCV this fall, including the largest cities in Utah and Maine. You can see where RCV is used across the country on this FairVote resource page. For indications of where the nation is heading in reform, we now have some 90 colleges and universities from coast to coast using RCV; young people are particularly hungry for what RCV brings to our politics. |
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Kentucky Republicans’ primary problem
Of course, elections don’t just make the news for doing things right. Plenty of single-choice elections are in the news because of how badly they’ve gone wrong.
Kentucky is gearing up for an extremely competitive gubernatorial election, with an incumbent Democratic governor running for re-election in a deeply conservative state. In the Republican primary this coming Tuesday, May 16, twelve Republicans are vying for the chance to take on Gov. Andy Beshear in the general election.
Yet Republicans might hurt their chances due to the vicious, broken nature of their primary. The candidates are focused more on destroying their opponents’ reputations than debating policy, in what Vox describes as a “knife fight.” The leading candidate has just 30 percent of the vote according to a recent poll, so Republicans may enter the general election deflated and divided rather than united.
If Kentucky Republicans want to win, they could learn from their neighbors in Virginia. Just two years ago, the Virginia GOP used ranked choice voting to nominate Glenn Youngkin for Governor, Winsome Sears for Lieutenant Governor, and Jason Miyares for Attorney General. Republicans went on to sweep all three offices (despite not winning a single statewide contest since 2009), and flipped the House of Delegates on the coattails of Youngkin, Sears, and Miyares as well.
RCV works so well in primaries because it changes the incentives. Candidates need a broad coalition to win, not just a narrow base of 25 or 30 percent. They don’t attack their opponents as much – because doing so could hurt their chance to win second- and third-choice support. Voters keep looking at possible candidates to support even after they’ve picked out their top choice.
GOP strategists in Virginia have written extensively about how ranked choice voting primaries helped unify and enthuse their party in 2021. The data backs up their analysis: Candidates nominated with majority support tend to perform better in general elections, and candidates nominated with RCV enter general elections with higher favorability ratings.
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Pennsylvania Democrats’ primary problem
Crowded primaries aren’t just a Republican problem, of course. On the same day that Kentucky Republicans will nominate their gubernatorial candidate, Philadelphia Democrats will nominate their mayoral candidate from an eight-candidate field.
Leading candidate Rebecca Rhynhart is polling at just 19%. A recent poll by FairVote and SurveyUSA finds that if the city used RCV, Rhynhart would likely enter the general election in a stronger position, with 55 percent of voters ranking her above her closest challenger. Of course, this isn’t just about Rhynhart – it would hold true for any candidate winning a majority head-to-head against their closest challenger, instead of just two or three out of every ten Philly Democratic voters.
In such a deep-blue city, Democrats aren’t in danger of losing even after a divisive primary, but a more positive RCV primary would still benefit the party (and the winning candidate). The winner would enter office with a clearer mandate to lead, and could even have a higher favorability rating among Philadelphia voters. It’s no wonder nearly all of the mayoral candidates support bringing RCV to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection!
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At a time of deep division and plurality wins, the case for RCV has never been clearer. With your help, we can win adoption of RCV everywhere in the country. Track the latest on progress in state legislatures and on the ballot at our Get Involved page.
Best,
Rob Richie
President |
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