Ranked choice voting brings better elections to the Bay Area
Last week, 17 ranked choice voting (RCV) elections took place across the Bay Area. Voting has become ranking for many cities in the Bay Area, and as per usual, RCV identified majority winners among crowded fields. Voters and candidates across Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco embraced the opportunity to express their preferences and find common ground.
Most notably, nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie has been elected mayor of San Francisco. Lurie defeated a field of thirteen candidates, including incumbent Mayor London Breed. Lurie led in the first round, with 27% of voters marking him as their first choice. In the RCV count, Lurie’s support grew. In the final round of counting, Lurie ousted Breed, 55% to 45%.
In the first round, 51% of voters supported either Lurie or Breed. By the last round, 85% of voters had their ballot count toward Lurie or Breed. RCV allowed an additional 128,000 voters to weigh in between the frontrunners.
Voters ranked an average of 3.5 candidates on their ballots, with 81% of voters ranking at least two choices.
Leading up to Election Day, Lurie asked voters to rank him first – or second if they supported a different candidate. As Politico noted, polls “consistently suggested that Lurie would benefit from ranked-choice voting in the crowded mayoral race. Part of his strategy was to be the second choice for many residents who voted for another candidate first.” Evidently this worked – under RCV, it pays to have broad appeal and seek support outside of your base. 58% of voters ranked Lurie as one of their top three choices.
RCV helped elect over a dozen other local offices in Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. Each city released preliminary round-by-round results on election night. Across the Bay Area, candidates embraced RCV. Many of them cross–endorsed a competitor and/or educated voters about the process. Several local community organizations also provided ranked endorsements. Voters also largely embraced the ranking process; in the San Francisco mayoral election, voters ranked an average of 3.5 candidates, and 82% of voters ranked at least two candidates.
The Bay Area has been a trailblazer in the growing movement to give voters more choice and more voice. San Leandro first used RCV in 2010, San Francisco in 2004, Berkeley in 2010, Oakland in 2010, and Albany in 2022. As of today, Bay Area cities have held almost 350 RCV elections. To learn about the future of RCV in California, visit CalRCV.
