Ranked choice voting has drawn widespread support from elected officials, thought leaders, academic experts, prominent organizations, and newspapers. Below are just some of the many Americans who support the nation’s fastest-growing nonpartisan voting reform.
George Allen
Former governor of Virginia
George Allen
Former governor of Virginia
“Ranked choice voting makes it so elected officials are truly representative of the will of the majority of the voters.” (Source)
Maura Healey
Governor of Massachusetts
Maura Healey
Governor of Massachusetts
“When voters learn about ranked choice voting, they like what they hear. So we need to reach as many voters as possible in these early days of voting to tell them why they should vote #YesOn2.” (Source)
Gary Herbert
Former governor of Utah
Gary Herbert
Former governor of Utah
“I like ranked choice voting. I think it’s a good way. We’ve done it with some of our conventions on the Republican side of the ledger. I think ranked voting can work.” (Source)
Asa Hutchinson
Former governor of Arkansas
Asa Hutchinson
Former governor of Arkansas
“I don’t see [ranked choice voting] as weakening the parties as much as forcing the candidates to say, ‘we’ve got to appeal to a broad swath of the American electorate,’ and that to me is the benefit from it. That the parties can adjust and operate within whatever election structure you give them, but it will cause the candidates to have a broader appeal – and that to me is what is needed.” (Source)
Gary Johnson
Former governor of New Mexico
Ned Lamont
Governor of Connecticut
Ned Lamont
Governor of Connecticut
“What ranked-choice voting does is opens up the dialogue between the candidates. ‘I don’t want to alienate the second or third choice. I’d like to be the second or third choice to some of those folks.’ I think it makes democracy better.” (Source)
Deval Patrick
Former governor of Massachusetts
Deval Patrick
Former governor of Massachusetts
“But there is a way to strengthen the way our democracy works and ensure that our leaders are elected with the broadest majority possible. It’s called ranked-choice voting.” (Source)
Jared Polis
Governor of Colorado
Jared Polis
Governor of Colorado
“I’ve always been supportive of the concept of ranked-choice voting. We just completed our first mayor’s race in Boulder using ranked-choice voting. In talking to my friends and neighbors, it went very smoothly, people understood what they were doing. They got their voice counted, regardless of who their first choice was.” (Source)
Jacob Frey
Mayor of Minneapolis
Bill Weld
Former governor of Massachusetts
Bill Weld
Former governor of Massachusetts
“Ranked choice provides many benefits at all levels. Research shows more women and people of color run and win with this reform. Because candidates seek second place votes, negative campaigning is diminished. Barriers for new competition will be reduced for candidates outside of both major parties.” (Source)
Photo provided by Bill Weld
Mike Johnston
Mayor of Denver
Mike Johnston
Mayor of Denver
Mike Johnston endorsed bringing ranked choice voting to Denver in a 2023 debate, and subsequently endorsed a 2024 ballot measure to adopt open primaries and RCV statewide in Colorado.
Michelle Wu
Mayor of Boston
Michelle Wu
Mayor of Boston
“This is a state with a huge pipeline of talent, activism and an incredible energy in terms of people participating and wanting to jump into political office. Ranked choice voting makes sure that we are reflecting the true will of the people.” (Source)
Stacey Abrams
Former minority leader of the Georgia State House
Stacey Abrams
Former minority leader of the Georgia State House
Ranked choice voting in Alaska “meant that more people got what they needed, and that’s what politics should actually be.” (Source)
Photo from Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license.
Cathy Giessel
Alaska Senate majority leader
Cathy Giessel
Alaska Senate majority leader
“I’m kind of a fan. I think this will allow the voters – especially what sometimes people call the ‘silent majority,’ the people in the middle – the opportunity to really have a voice and not just have the parties run these elections.” (Source)
Dan Rayfield
Oregon attorney general
Dan Rayfield
Oregon attorney general
“It’s no secret that this is my wheelhouse issue. I have been supportive of Ranked Choice Voting since I was 19 years old.” (Source)
Shenna Bellows
Maine secretary of state
Shenna Bellows
Maine secretary of state
“I’ve seen [ranked choice voting] at every angle, and I’m here to tell you confidently: It works.” (Source)
Additional federal officials
- Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (MI)
- U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-4)
- U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (VT)
- Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (AK)
- U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (CO)
- Former U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-3)
- Former U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY)
- U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-2)
- Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
- U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA)
- U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-5)
- Former President Bill Clinton
- U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-9)
- Former U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello (PA)
- U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-2)
- U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (MN-2)
- Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth (MO)
- Former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI)
- U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
- U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (ME-2)
- U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10)
- U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (CO)
- U.S. Rep. James Himes (CT-4)
- U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle (OR-4)
- U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7)
- Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly (FL)
- Former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III (MA)
- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Former Secretary of State John Kerry
- Former U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA)
- Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL)
- U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12)
- U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36)
- U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (MA)
- Former U.S. Sen. John McCain (AZ)
- Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO)
- Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul
- U.S. Rep. James McGovern (MA-2)
- U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison (MN-3)
- U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-6)
- U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-2)
- Former President Barack Obama
- U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
- U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski (MD-2)
- U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5)
- Former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (AK)
- U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (CA-50)
- Former U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (MN)
- U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-1)
- U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
- U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-3)
- Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
- Former U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY)
- Former Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)
- U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (MN)
- U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13)
- U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-3)
- U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (VT)
- U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-5)
Additional state and local officials
- Former Michigan GOP Chair Saul Anuzis
- California State Sen. Jesse Arreguin
- Former Utah State Sen. Curt Bramble
- Illinois State Rep. Kam Buckner
- Former Georgia State Rep. Wes Cantrell
- Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson
- Former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll
- Former Utah State Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck
- North Pole, AK City Councilmember Santa Claus
- Former Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos
- Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas
- Former Utah County Clerk Josh Daniels
- Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
- Alaska State House Speaker Bryce Edgmon
- Former Chicago, IL Mayor Rahm Emanuel
- Georgia State Rep. Stacy Evans
- New York City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farias
- Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
- Minnesota State Rep. Cedrick Frazier
- Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes
- Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop
- Idaho State Senator Linda Wright Hartgen
- New York City Councilmember Crystal Hudson
- Rhode Island State Rep. Rebecca Kislak
- Oakland, CA Mayor Barbara Lee
- New York State Attorney General Letitia James
- Former Oregon Secretary of State Phil Keisling
- Former Utah GOP Chair Stan Lockhart
- Maine Gov. Janet Mills
- Shelby County, TN District Attorney Steven Mulroy
- Former Idaho Gov. Butch Otter
- Pennsylvania State Rep. Christopher Rabb
- Former Utah State Rep. Marc Roberts
- Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand
- Former Virginia Delegate Chris Saxman
- Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
- Colorado State Representative Matt Soper
- Former Charleston, SC Mayor John Tecklenburg
- New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver
- Former Georgia State Rep. Scot Turner
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
- New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
- New York City Councilmember Nantasha Williams
- Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson
- Former Utah State Rep. Mike Winder
- Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
Additional thought leaders
- Leadership Now CEO Daniella Ballou-Aares
- New York Times columnist Frank Bruni
- Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report
- Andy Craig, Rainey Center election policy center
- Cheryl Crawford, MassVOTE Executive Director
- Author and philanthropist Ted Dintersmith
- Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne
- Actor and producer Michael Douglas
- New York Times columnist Tom Friedman
- William Galston, Brookings Institution Governance Studies Senior Fellow
- Katherine Gehl, former CEO of Gehl Foods
- Matt Germer, R Street Institute Policy Director
- Alyssa Farah Griffin, co-host of The View
- Actor Ed Helms
- Journalist Hendrik Hertzberg
- Former Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen
- Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla
- The Killers
- New York Times columnist Ezra Klein
- Kevin Kosar, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow
- Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something
- Bill McKibben, author and climate activist
- Mike Murphy, co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast
- Former Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader
- Krist Novoselic, Nirvana bassist
- Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow emeritus
- Former Green presidential candidate Jill Stein
- Former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer
- Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes
- Katrina vanden Heuvel, publisher of The Nation
- Erin Vilardi, Vote Run Lead founder
- Amy Walter, Cook Political Report publisher & editor-in-chief
Additional academic experts
Numerous academic experts have endorsed greater use of ranked choice voting in the United States, including 10 Nobel Prize laureates in economic sciences and nine winners of the Johan Skytte Prize (“the Nobel of political science”). You can also see an open letter from academics supporting the Fair Representation Act here.
- Alan Abramowitz, Emory University
- Robert Axelrod, University of Michigan**
- Rosa Brooks, Georgetown Law School
- Nikolas Bowie, Harvard Law School
- Shaun Bowler, University of California at Riverside
- Charles Bullock, University of Georgia
- Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin
- John Carey, Dartmouth College
- Rachael Cobb, Suffolk University
- Michael Crespin, University of Oklahoma
- Angus Deaton, Princeton University*
- Larry Diamond, Stanford University
- Peter Diamond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology*
- Todd Donovan, Western Washington University
- Joshua Douglas, University of Kentucky College of Law
- David Farrell, University College Dublin
- Caroline Frederickson, Georgetown Law School, 2020 distinguished visitor
- Francis Fukuyama, Stanford**
- Keith Gaddie, University of Oklahoma
- Nicholas Goedert, Lafayette College
- Paul Gronke, Reed College and 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow
- Oliver Hart, Harvard University*
- Bob Holmes, Clark Atlanta University (emeritus)
- Mark Jones, Rice University
- Pam Karlan, Stanford Law School
- Peter Joachim Katzenstein, Cornell University**
- Robert Keohane, Princeton University**
- Alex Keyssar, Harvard University
- David Kimball, University of Missouri at St. Louis
- Douglas Kriner, Cornell University
- Didi Kuo, Stanford University
- Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School
- Justin Levitt, Loyola Law School
- Arend Lijphart, University of California at San Diego**
- David Lublin, American University
- Sandy Maisel, Colby College
- Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University**
- Eric Maskin, Harvard University*
- Alan Butler Morrison, The George Washington Law School
- Roger Myerson, University of Chicago*
- Jack Nagel, University of Pennsylvania (emeritus)
- William Nordhaus, Yale University*
- Edmund Phelps, Columbia University*
- G. Bingham Powell, University of Rochester and former president of the American Political Science Association
- Robert Putnam, Harvard University**
- Miles Rapoport, Harvard University and former Connecticut Secretary of State
- Ronald Rapoport, College of William and Mary (emeritus)
- John Rapp, Beloit College (emeritus)
- Benjamin Reilly, University of Western Australia
- Andrew Reynolds, Princeton University
- Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University
- Alvin Roth, Stanford University*
- Mark Rush, Washington and Lee University
- Thomas Sargent, New York University*
- Philippe Schmitter, European University Institute**
- Robert Shiller, Yale University*
- Anne-Marie Slaughter, Princeton University (emerita)
- Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Harvard Law School
- Rein Taagepera, University of California at Irvine**
- James Thurber, American University
- Caroline Tolbert, University of Iowa
- Franita Tolson, University of Southern California Law School
- Ismar Volić, Wellesley College
- Tova Wang, Harvard University
*Nobel Prize laureates in economic sciences
**Johan Skytte Prize winners