The majority loses in Indiana primaries. Ranked choice voting is the solution.
Yesterday’s Indiana primaries saw several crowded contests won with a minority of votes – meaning the majority of voters supported someone other than the winning candidate.
These included Republican primaries for governor and several U.S. House seats, for which the Republican nominees will be overwhelming favorites in November. Come 2025, it is likely that Indiana’s governor and at least four of its nine House representatives will have been effectively chosen by only a minority of Republican primary voters.
Using ranked choice voting (RCV) would ensure candidates represent a majority of voters, foster more civil and positive primary campaigns, and solve the “spoiler” and “vote-splitting” problems in crowded contests. Indiana Republicans previously used RCV for their 2020 GOP primary.
Indiana gubernatorial primary
The Republican gubernatorial primary included U.S. Senator Mike Braun, Lt Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, and entrepreneur Eric Doden, among others. Braun won the nomination with just 39.6% of the vote, while Crouch received 21.8% and Chambers received 17.5%. In a crowded field of seven candidates, over 60% of voters cast a ballot for one of Braun’s opponents!
Considering the Republican candidate’s all-but-assured victory in November, this primary likely determined who will be Indiana’s governor – a fraction of a fraction of the electorate made the choice for the Hoosier State.
The race was also expensive and negative. The top five candidates spent a record-breaking $40 million. Commentators pegged the race as “divisive” and featuring “almost no actual ideas.”
Compare that to ranked choice voting campaigns, where candidates seek to be the 2nd choice of voters ranking their opponent first. This leads to a more positive, issues-focused campaign; for example, 84% of Virginia GOP voters said an RCV congressional primary was positive, compared to just 59% in a choose-one primary in a neighboring and similar district.
Indiana’s 3rd District
Indiana’s 3rd District is an open seat this year, because incumbent Rep. Jim Banks is retiring to run for U.S. senator. Eight candidates ran for the Republican nomination to replace him, including former Rep. Marlin Stutzman, state Sen. Andy Zay, former judge Wendy Davis, and businessman Tim Smith.
Stutzman won the nomination with only 24.2% of the vote, a 1,307 vote lead over Tim Smith with 22.6%. With such a tight race, voters who cast a ballot for Wendy Davis or Andy Zay may now wish they had an opportunity to express their preference between Marlin Stutzman and Tim Smith, an opportunity RCV would have provided them.
Instead, with single-choice voting, the nominee received less than one-quarter of the votes cast!
Indiana’s 5th District
Nine candidates ran in the 5th District Republican primary, including incumbent Victoria Spartz. Over a year ago, Spartz announced her intent to retire – which likely encouraged more candidates to enter the race. Yet she changed her mind and decided to run again shortly before the filing deadline.
Spartz fended off her opponents, including state Rep. Chuck Goodrich, to retain her seat. Spartz received 39.1% of the vote, Goodrich received 33.2%, and the remaining vote share was split across several less prominent candidates.
A majority of voters chose someone other than Spartz. If Indiana used RCV, voters could indicate their preference between Spartz and Goodrich even if neither was their first choice – and the 5th District nominee would have received majority support.
The 5th District election was the third-most expensive House primary in the country, and also extremely negative – including Spartz sending out a mailer of Goodrich in a pink tutu. RCV could have changed the incentives in this election, rewarding candidates who focused on the issues and were able to build a majority coalition.
Indiana’s 6th District
Indiana’s 6th District is also an open seat, with Rep. Greg Pence retiring.The seven candidates who ran included businessmen Jefferson Shreve and Jamison Carrier and State Representative Mike speedy.
No candidate won a majority of votes. Shreve received 28.4% of the vote, second-place finisher Speedy received 22.1%, Carrier received 20.1% of the vote, and the four other candidates split the remaining 29.4%.
Nearly half of voters didn’t have a say in the outcome between the two strongest candidates – Shreve and Speedy – due to single-choice voting.
Indiana’s 7th District
Republican voters nominated Jennifer Pace in the 7th District, based in Indianapolis. In a sad and unusual occurrence, Pace passed away after the deadline to change the ballot, and won with 31.2% of the vote. With RCV, if a candidate drops out of the race after the ballot is finalized, voters who rank that candidate first could simply have their vote count for a backup choice.
Instead, this nomination will be taken out of voters’ hands entirely; Republican insiders will decide on Pace’s replacement via caucus.
Indiana’s 8th District
In Indiana’s 8th district, Rep. Larry Bucshon’s retirement from Congress created an open field, with state Sen. Mark Messmer, former U.S. Rep. John Hostettlter (who represented the district from 1995 to 2007), surgeon Richard Moss, former Trump communications staffer Dominick Kavanaugh, and Republican Party County Chair Kristi Risk, among others. This election was the second-most expensive House primary in the nation this year.
No candidate received a majority of votes. Messmer received 38.5% of the vote, Hostettler received 19.6% of the vote, and the other candidates split the remaining votes.
The future of Indiana primaries
These outcomes mean that Indiana’s next governor and at least four of its members of Congress were likely chosen by just a fraction of primary voters. Indiana should consider RCV to ensure nominees represent a majority of voters who vote in primary elections.
Thankfully, Hoosier State voters already have some experience with RCV. In 2020, the state Republican Party used it to pick their nominee for attorney general – a process the party chair hailed as “very smooth and transparent.” RCV is also making waves in neighboring Illinois – where it was recently adopted in Evanston, and is under consideration in at least four more cities.
To support the RCV movement in Indiana, check out Better Ballot IN today!
