New Philadelphia mayoral poll shows potential impact of ranked choice voting
A new poll conducted by SurveyUSA and co-sponsored by FairVote provides insight into the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary in Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth-largest city. In the crowded single-choice contest, the leading candidate, Rebecca Rhynhart, is polling at just 19%.
There was also a ranked choice voting poll, which provides more information on voters’ preferences and shows how a candidate could build majority support in a wide field. Below are the key findings from SurveyUSA’s ranked choice voting poll. For additional coverage, see these pieces in today’s Philadelphia Citizen and Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia voters are ready for RCV
53% of poll respondents say they would support bringing RCV to Philadelphia, compared to 22% opposed. 26% remain undecided.
The groups that show strongest support for RCV include voters under age 50, as well as voters who identified their neighborhood as Northwest Philadelphia or Center City.
Rhynhart looks stronger in RCV than in the single-choice election
In the single-choice poll, Rhynhart’s lead is within the margin of error: she polls at 19%, with Cherelle Parker at 17% and Helen Gym at 16%. In the RCV poll, Rhynhart expands her narrow first-round lead and defeats Parker 55-45% in the final tabulation round.
RCV provides more information on voters’ preferences, and the poll data also demonstrates that Rhynhart would win a head-to-head matchup against every other candidate in the race.
Notably, RCV also allows voters to show support for more candidates and feel represented by the final result, even if they ranked the winning candidate 2nd or 3rd. 35% of Parker voters ranked Rhynhart in their top three, and 42% of Rhynhart voters ranked Parker in their top three.
86% of voters chose to rank multiple candidates
In the RCV poll, 86% of respondents ranked multiple candidates. 79% said they found the process of ranking candidates easy or very easy – even though there has been no RCV campaign or voter education in Philadelphia (45% of respondents said they hadn’t heard of it prior to the poll).
This aligns with other evidence that voters like using RCV and they take advantage of the opportunity to rank.
Voters’ first choice indicates which frontrunner they’ll rank highest
Rhynhart and Parker finish first and second among voters’ first-choices. RCV provides more information on voters’ preferences, and can show which of the frontrunners is most preferred by voters for each other candidate.
Voters for Domb, Gym, and Bloom prefer Rhynhart. Supporters of Jeff Brown, Amen Brown, and DeLeon prefer Parker.
| Prefer Rhynhart | Prefer Parker | Did not rank either finalist | |
| Allan Domb | 43% | 33% | 24% |
| Helen Gym | 47% | 29% | 24% |
| Jeff Brown | 32% | 40% | 28% |
| Amen Brown | 26% | 49% | 25% |
| James DeLeon | 20% | 36% | 44% |
| Warren Bloom Sr. | 30% | 19% | 51% |
The poll was sponsored in partnership with leading Philadelphia civic groups and institutions: Committee of Seventy, Urban Affairs Coalition, The Philadelphia Citizen, and the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.
