Last Tuesday marked Arlington, Virginia's second Democratic County Board
primary with ranked choice voting. Donate Today!


Dear John,

Last Tuesday marked Arlington, Virginia's second Democratic County Board primary
withranked choice voting(RCV). JD Spain won with 55% of the vote, after having
led among voters’ first choices with 32%.

In a race with competing policy interests, RCV gave voters the power to rank the
candidates that represented their interests best. RCV delivered a majority
winner with both deep and broad support in a crowded contest. It also encouraged
candidates to conduct more positive campaigns and seek support from more voters
– even as their second choice. 95% of voters expressed their preference between
the two strongest candidates.

It’s no surprise that innew exit polling, 88% of Arlington voters said RCV was
easy and 67% want to use it again, with overwhelming majority support across
demographic groups. After similarlypositive supportfollowing Arlington’s 2023
RCV primary, the countymadeRCV permanent for County Board primaries and will
pilot its use for the 2024 general election.

Read on to learn how RCV solved the “vote-splitting” problem in Arlington, and
how Arlington is setting an example for Virginia and the DMV region.

RCV SOLVES “VOTE-SPLITTING” AND DELIVERS A REPRESENTATIVE OUTCOME
Local papers, elected officials, and organizations embraced RCV and offered
ranked endorsements of candidates – and their endorsements clarify how the
candidates broke on housing and other important issues.

TheGazetteLeaderendorsed Natalie Roy and Julie Farnam, who both ran more
development-skeptical campaigns; the urbanist siteGreater Greater Washingtonand
several local politiciansendorsed Spain and Peterson, who both support more
housing. James DeVita alsocriticizedArlington’s current “Missing Middle” housing
expansion policy.

Notably, RCV allowed a crowded contest without voters “splitting the vote”
between multiple candidates with similar views. 89% of Farnam, DeVita, and
Peterson voters took advantage of the opportunity to rank their ballot and weigh
in between the two leading candidates – JD Spain and Natalie Roy.In total, 95%
of all voters expressed their preference between Spain and Roy.

When Farnam was eliminated, a plurality of her voters (38%) ranked Roy as their
second choice. When DeVita was eliminated, 52% of those voters ranked Roy as
their backup choice. When Peterson was eliminated, 62% of those voters ranked
Spain as their backup choice.

Ultimately, RCV delivered a majority winner with both deep (1st-choice) and
broad (backup-choice) support. Spain received the most first choices, but needed
backup-choice support – largely from Peterson voters – to complete his majority
coalition and secure a win. Without RCV, Spain may still have won the race – but
with less than one-third of the vote, and most voters opposing him.

Read our full analysis of Arlington's RCV primary online.

ARLINGTON SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR VIRGINIA AND THE REGION
Contrast Arlington’s experience with single-choice primaries held in Virginia,
Maryland, and Washington D.C. this May and June.

As our colleagueBryan Huang writes, in Virginia’s 7th and 10th Congressional
Districts, candidates won with as little as 30% of their party behind them –
putting their parties in aworseposition going into the general election. The
10th District Democratic primary was also noted for its toxicity, with personal
attacks taking center stage instead of candidates broadening their coalition. A
new studyin Election Studies finds the latter is exactly what happens in
localities with RCV, which see "greater incidences of voter contacting."

As our colleagueRachel Hutchinson writes, multiple Maryland congressional
nominees will also compete in the general election with a minority of support
from their own party. In the open 3rd Congressional District, the Democratic and
Republican primaries were won with just 35% and 25% of the vote, respectively.

And asMatt Oberstaedt writes, three out of four voters picked someone other than
the winner of the likely decisive Democratic primary for Washington, D.C.’s open
Ward 7 council seat.

RCV is the fastest-growing election reform in the nation, with 50 cities,
counties, and states using it in their public elections. In addition to
Arlington, it is widely used in Virginia party-run contests on both the
Democratic and GOP sides. Virginia Republicans used RCV to nominate their
successful 2021 ticket, led by now-Governor Glenn Youngkin.

We hope Arlington’s success will inspire other nearby communities to reform
their elections as well. VisitUpVote Virginia,Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, and
Make All Votes Count DCtoday to help bring RCV to your community!

Sincerely,
Deb Otis, director of research and policy
Ben Fitzgerald, research and policy intern

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