Note: This page was last updated on December 6, 2022. For the results of ranked choice voting ballot measures, visit FairVote Action.

As ranked choice voting (RCV) election results are released across the country, elections from California, Maryland, Alaska, and Oregon caught our attention…and yours too! Below are some of the races we’re watching, including cities using RCV for the first time, and some groundbreaking outcomes for diverse candidates.

Alaska United States House Race

Incumbent Mary Peltola (D) led in the first round with 48.8% of first choices. When Nick Begich (R) was eliminated, most of his votes transfered to fellow Republican Sarah Palin, but enough transfered to Peltola for her to reach 54.9% support and win re-election. This marks an increase compared to her performance in the August special election for the same seat, when she won 40.2% of first choices and 51.5% of votes in the final round.

Mary Peltola is the first Alaska Native sworn into the United States Congress as well as the first woman to represent Alaska in the House of Representatives.

Alaska United States Senate Race

This was the first time Alaska used ranked choice voting for a U.S. Senate race. The highly competitive race featured incumbent Lisa Murkowski (R), Kelly Tshibaka (R), Pat Chesbro (D), and Buzz Kelley (R). Murkowski led in first choices with 43.4%, which positioned her well for the instant runoff. When Kelley and Chesbro were eliminated, she received most of the transfer support and expanded her lead to 53.7% in the final round.

Alaska Governor and State Legislature

Alaska also became the first state to use ranked choice voting in general elections for Governor and state legislature (Maine uses RCV for primary elections for those offices).

In the Governor’s race, incumbent Mike Dunleavy won a majority of first-choice votes, so no ranked choice tabulations were needed. This means Alaska’s three statewide RCV elections were won by a conservative Republican (Dunleavy), a moderate Republican (Murkowski), and a moderate Democrat (Peltola), reflecting the independent nature of the state and showing that RCV allows voters to look beyond traditional notions of ‘red versus blue.’

In state legislative elections, ten races went to instant runoffs because no candidate won a majority of first choices. Three of those races had ‘come from behind wins,’ two of which were won by Republicans and one of which was won by a Democrat. For a more comprehensive breakdown of results in the state, visit this page. You can also see visuals for each of the races that went to instant runoffs on RCVis.com.

Special thanks to the Alaska Division of Elections for running such smooth and transparent elections. They and Alaskans for Better Elections also did excellent work educating voters ahead of time. Overwhelming majorities of Alaskans report that ranked choice voting was simple and that they took advantage of the chance to rank multiple candidates.

Maine United States House Races

Maine voters used RCV to choose the Representative for their 2nd Congressional District. Incumbent Democrat Jared Golden led former Representative Bruce Poliquin with first choices, and the race went to an instant runoff because no candidate crossed 50% in the first round. In the final round, Rep. Golden increased his lead to a majority with 53% support. The results closely mirrored a poll FairVote conducted with SurveyUSA that asked voters for their ranked preferences, showing once again that RCV polls can be very precise and provide deeper insight into voter preferences than plurality polls.

Maine’s 1st Congressional District only had two candidates on the ballot, but voters still had the opportunity to rank write-in candidates if they wanted to.

For a deeper dive into Maine’s elections, visit this page. To learn more about the history of RCV in the state, visit the League of Women Voters of Maine.

Oakland, CA

Oakland voters had a wide set of choices for Mayor with ten candidates running. Loren Taylor led in first choices with 32.9%, closely followed by Sheng Thao with 31.6%. As the last place candidates were eliminated, Sheng Thao picked up enough transfer choices to take the lead in the eigth round, and win in the ninth round with 50.3%. See the results with RCVis here.

Our analysis found that much of Thao’s transfer support came from candidates who also made housing and homelessness a priority in their campaign. Thao was also connected to and endorsed by labor unions, and received many transfer votes from other candidates who were connected to the labor movement.

Before the election, many speculated it would be a tight race between Loren Taylor and Councilmember Sheng Thao. Outgoing Mayor Libby Schaaf endorsed Taylor, while Thao received endorsements from labor unions and the county Democratic Party.

San Francisco, CA

Incumbent Brooke Jenkins won the race for District Attorney (DA) with 53.7% support in the third round of ballot counting. She had led with a plurality in the first and second rounds, and RCV allowed her to demonstrate she had a mandate from a majority of voters.

After the recall of Chesa Boudin in June, Mayor London Breed appointed Jenkins as the interim DA. Jenkins is the second woman to ever serve as District Attorney for San Francisco, following Vice President Kamala Harris, and the first Afro-Latina to serve.

Albany, CA

Adopted by the City Council earlier this year, Albany held its first ranked choice voting election. Albany used proportional RCV to elect two councilmembers.

There are many votes left to tally, but John Miki appears to have won 1 of 2 available seats, with a very close race for the second seat. Miki was a member of the “Albany Forward” slate, which advocated for the fight against climate change, safe streets, and ensuring everyone has a place to live in Albany. He emphasized uplifting diverse voices to address the most pressing issues Albany faces. Miki himself adds racial diversity to the Albany City Council as an Asian American and the only member of color on the council. 

Palm Desert, CA

This is the first time Palm Desert held a proportional RCV election, which was the outcome of a California Voting Rights Act settlement.

In this two-seat city council race, incumbent Mayor Jan Harnik has won one seat handily. The current president of the Southern California Association of Governments, Mayor Harnik plans to continue her work on adding a train route from the valley to Los Angeles. The second seat is too close to call, with many ballots still to tally.

Corvallis, OR

The race for Mayor is a nail biter, with official RCV results expected on December 5. In first round tabulations, none of the three candidates – Charles Maughan, Andrew Struthers, and Roen Hogg – received the threshold of votes to win. This means that the winner will be decided in a ranked choice run-off, the first of its kind in Corvallis. Many cities can start reporting results on election night, but in this first use Benton County will wait until after all ballots are processed.

To help win better elections in Oregon, check out Oregon RCV.

Takoma Park, MD

FairVote’s home city of Takoma Park started using RCV in 2007. This year had particularly competitive elections, including three city council races that were decided in “instant runoffs.” The mayoral race was won on the first round by Talisha Searcy with 52.1% of the vote. She will become the first Black woman mayor of Takoma Park. Searcy defeated two men, a current city councilor and a former city councilor.

Visit RCV for Maryland to join the movement for better elections in the state.