“Fewest Votes Wins”: 49 statewide and congressional primaries won with less than 50% of the vote
So far in 2024, 49 candidates have won statewide and congressional primaries with less than 50% of the vote, a new FairVote analysis finds. This is across the 32 states that have held primaries, and includes at least 12 candidates who won with a third of the vote or less.
In our current single-choice voting system, a candidate can win an election with far less than 50% of the vote, meaning a majority of voters voted for someone other than the winner. That presents two major problems for our elections:
- If the candidate is in a district safe for their party, they’ve essentially secured an office with just a fraction of a fraction of their constituents behind them.
- If the candidate is in a competitive district, they enter the general election weaker, without most of their party behind them.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) would solve both problems, helping candidates win with a majority of votes and sending them into the general election stronger.
The table below shows the candidates who have won statewide or congressional primaries with less than 50% of the vote. 24 of these “fewest votes wins” candidates are heavily favored to win their general elections in non-competitive states or districts. And in seven open-seat U.S. House races, both major-party nominees won their primaries with a plurality, including two potential swing seats (MD-6 and VA-7).
Voters are not the only ones harmed by “fewest votes wins” primaries – even the winners lose. Recent research from Northwestern University and FairVote finds that candidates who win their primaries with less than 50% of votes typically perform worse in competitive general elections than candidates who win their primaries with a majority. Recent examples include several poorly performing Republican nominees in 2022, including U.S. Senate nominees Don Bolduc (NH) and Mehmet Oz (PA); PA gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano; and the Arizona GOP nominees for Governor, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, and Secretary of State.
How are this year’s plurality primary winners likely to fare in their general elections?
| Type of election | Number of nominees heavily favored to win | Number of nominees in competitive contests |
| Statewide | 6 | 1 |
| Congressional | 18 | 11 |
| Total | 24 | 12 |
Ranked choice voting could help voters and parties select stronger and more representative candidates in primaries. It’s now used in all public elections in 50 cities, counties, and states, and has been used in primaries in states including Maine, New York City, Virginia, and Utah. In all of these places, RCV solves the problem of “fewest votes wins” and delivers winners with majority support.
While many of the candidates currently winning crowded primaries with 25 or 30 percent of the vote might also win an RCV primary, they’d go into the general election with majority support and a stronger mandate. More voters would be invested in their party’s nominee, whether they ranked them first, second, or later on their ballots.
For a deeper-dive on candidates who’ve won their primaries with pluralities this year, read FairVote and FairVote Action’s analyses of “fewest votes wins” primaries in Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Utah, and Colorado.
