Welcome June! It’s officially summer, and it will be another busy one for us at FairVote Minnesota! We’re excited to be on the ground across the metro and the state to educate voters on how they can maximize the power of their ballots. We’ll also be hosting a variety of events, and working to make sure candidates and organizations are ready to run effective RCV campaigns this fall in the five cities using RCV—Minneapolis, St Paul, Bloomington, Minnetonka, and St Louis Park!
Now more than ever, we need solutions like RCV to strengthen our democracy and we look forward to your partnership in engaging voters in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in this critical work. Read on and sign up to join us wherever and whenever you can! |
A Vaccine for Democracy 2.0: Date Added Due to the overwhelming response to our upcoming June 11 event with Drs. Mike Osterholm and Marc Gorelick, we have added a second date the evening of July 15! We’re excited to offer this opportunity to even more people, and encourage you to sign up soon to make sure you secure your spot—tickets are already going fast on the second event!
A Vaccine for Democracy 2.0, builds on the powerful conversation we began in 2020 and will explore the urgent need for democratic reform to address today's most pressing public health, social, and political challenges. Dr. Osterholm will lead a timely and thought-provoking discussion on how polarization and dysfunction continue to hinder our country's ability to respond to crises—and how reforms like Ranked Choice Voting are essential to restoring trust, strengthening governance, and protecting public health and well-being.
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Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Meet and Greet: June 24
Like other high-profile mayoral contests in RCV cities—such as San Francisco, Oakland, and New York City—the competitive Minneapolis mayoral race is emerging as one to watch, both in Minnesota and nationally.
That’s why we want to provide an opportunity for voters to get to know all the candidates. We’re thrilled to announce a Meet and Greet with the Minneapolis mayoral candidates! We’ll be hosting candidates DeWayne Davis, Omar Fateh, Jacob Frey, Jazz Hampton, and Brenda Short on June 24 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Graze Food Hall!
In contrast to the structured debates and forums, this will be an informal gathering where voters are free to move about the room, meet the candidates, and ask questions. This venue will help voters better get to know the candidates one on one as they consider how they’ll be ranking their ballots in November. Voters from outside Minneapolis are also welcome to attend and get to know the candidates—this race has implications that reach far beyond the city and impact the entire state.
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What: Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Meet & Greet When: Tuesday, June 24 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Where: Graze Food Hall, 520 N 4th St, Minneapolis |
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No Kings March: June 14
FairVote Minnesota will be participating in the mass mobilization No Kings rally and march on Saturday, June 14, in St. Paul. We’ll be joining our pro-democracy allies in the fight against the attacks on our democracy and rights by President Trump and Congress.
We’ll start at St. Paul College in the march, have a table in the Rotunda, and collect signatures among our allies in support for a better democracy! Join us by signing up below. We are aiming for a huge turnout—register soon and we’ll follow up with all the details! |
Crunch Time at the Capitol, and One Last Democracy Push
Legislators concluded the 2025 legislative session in May without passing a budget, meaning a special session will be called as negotiations continue. While some pro-democracy measures, including the RCV Local Option, failed, others made it into the final Elections Omnibus bill. These include provisions to curb corruption by increasing campaign finance reporting requirements, funding the Secretary of State’s Office, and modernizing the Political Contribution Refund (PCR) by digitizing the process and making it easier for voters—especially young voters who only know a digital world—to use. This measure is currently at risk in final negotiations in the Tax Committee and—as part of the coalition advocating for this measure—we encourage you to reach out to leadership and ask them to include PCR modernization in the final budget bill!
Relatedly, a proposal in Governor Walz’s budget to defund the Political Contribution Refund (PCR) was, fortunately, defeated—now we want to be sure the effort to modernize the program makes it over the finish line. |
Rank Your Vote 2025
Our 2025 campaign to educate the voters and candidates in Minnesota’s five RCV cities is officially underway! We want to express our gratitude to the volunteers who have already gotten involved to help us be present at all 13 ward conventions in Minneapolis! The final convention is the citywide convention for mayor and Park and Taxation boards on July 19-20—click here to volunteer! Resources for Voters, Candidates, and Organizations
We’ve gone live with our updated website RankYourVote.org for the 2025 election season! In addition to keeping tabs of which candidates are running for which positions, we’ve put together RCV explainers and guides for not only voters, but also candidates, media, and organizations that make endorsements in RCV races. There will be many open seats and competitive races this year across the five RCV cities, and we’re doing our best to educate voters and make sure every voter can maximize the power of their ballots!
Join us at upcoming events!
Be sure to check out the calendar on the website! We’ll be making the rounds at summer fairs, festivals, parades, and community picnics across the five RCV cities—from Pride to Juneteenth to Hopkins Raspberry Festival to the State Fair, there are plenty of opportunities to learn about RCV and get involved! We are looking for volunteers as we ramp up for event season—sign up below! |
RCV Around the Country Big Happenings Locally
On May 14, the Boston City Council took a major step toward bringing RCV to local elections by passing a “home-rule petition” requesting legislative approval to adopt RCV. If approved, RCV will go to the voters for final adoption. Boston is the largest and most recent city to pass the petition, adding significant pressure on the legislature to allow cities to adopt RCV.
In Oakland, former Congresswoman Barbara Lee was elected as the new Mayor of Oakland with second choice votes. The election was another successful demonstration of RCV, with quick and transparent results and high voter satisfaction!
Charlottesville is next up on the RCV calendar, as they go to vote with RCV for the first time on June 17. Voters will be choosing members of their city council with proportional RCV, a system that many believe will help the city’s Black residents win more representation.
In a highly watched mayoral race, New York City voters head to polls on June 24 to decide who advances from the Democratic Primary to the General Election in November. The nominee will face off against Curtis Sliwa, the sole Republican in the race, and current Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the Democratic Party to run as an independent in the wake of corruption scandals.
We are seeing coalitions of candidates forming in Democratic Primary, which uses RCV, in an effort to succeed over front-runner former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The joint effort includes cross-endorsements, encouraging supporters to donate to ideological allies, and endorsement slates from allied organizations. We’re watching these developments as potential models for effective coalition-building under RCV as we head into a competitive RCV election cycle in Minneapolis and elsewhere this fall.
We’re also watching to see how the General Election race unfolds, with Andrew Cuomo potentially entering the race as another independent if he loses the primary. This would make for a competitive 4-way race and without RCV in place for General Elections, the vote will be split and the ultimate winner may prevail with less than a majority of voter support. Even without Cuomo entering as an independent, the General Election is anticipated to be highly competitive and likely result in a plurality winner, showcasing the need for NYC to expand RCV to General Elections.
A Setback at the State Level
On Sunday, Iowa became the 17th state in the country to formally ban RCV when Governor Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law. The anti-RCV movement in GOP-controlled states has been growing in recent years, backed by the Heritage Foundation and dark money groups, leading to two bills in Congress to ban RCV nationwide. This antidemocratic push is part of a larger effort to dismantle our electoral system through Executive Order and the Save Act.
Join us in fighting back against these attacks by signing the More Democracy, Not Less petition and marching with us on June 14. |
The American Democracy Summit
Last month, our Executive Director Jeanne Massey had the opportunity—alongside FairVote Minnesota Chair Maureen Reed—to attend and speak at the American Democracy Summit in Phoenix. Hosted by RepresentUs and a coalition of democracy organizations, the summit gathered hundreds of reformers, organizers, and advocates at a pivotal moment for our democracy. She provides a few reflections here on her experience, which left her inspired and more committed than ever to the work ahead.
The summit brought together people from across the country and political spectrum who are working tirelessly to protect and strengthen democratic institutions. I was honored to participate in a panel about how to win Ranked Choice Voting legislatively, joined by movement leaders who are advancing reforms in cities and states nationwide. Other sessions explored how to pass local RCV ballot measures, the promise of proportional representation, strategies to combat authoritarian threats, and how to build resilient cross-sector coalitions—from democracy reformers to faith leaders, labor, academia, and more. Get a glimpse of key sessions here.
What made the summit so powerful was the overwhelming sense of purpose, resolve, and possibility. We’re not just reacting to threats—we’re building. At the heart of every conversation was a shared belief that we can design a democracy that is inclusive, representative, accountable and resilient.
It was also energizing to see democracy take center stage in the cultural conversation. Speakers included former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (who stood up to efforts to overturn the 2020 election), former FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub, author David Smick, and actors Ed Helms, Michael Douglas, and Max Carver. Their voices reminded us that this work transcends partisanship—it’s about safeguarding the foundations of our shared civic life.
Across the board, organizations are forming powerful, intersectional coalitions to meet this moment and FairVote Minnesota is proud to be part of this movement, I’m bringing this energy home to Minnesota—because while the challenges are real, so is our resolve.
Together, by standing up to attacks on our democratic institutions and advancing vital reforms—like Ranked Choice Voting, proportional representation, campaign finance reform, and independent redistricting and others—alongside a growing, diverse pro-democracy coalition, we can build a better democracy for tomorrow. If you’d like to be part of this work, I’d love to hear from you. –Jeanne |
Let’s Make This a Summer for Democracy
We are at a crucial moment in the defense of our democracy—and together, we have the power to make this summer an historic one for the pro-democracy movement! We hope you’ll join us as we educate, organize, and advocate across the state. No matter your strengths or interests, there’s a place for you in this work. Let’s keep the momentum going! Team FairVote MN |
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