What to Expect: Ranked Choice Voting & June 2026 Primaries
June 1, 2026 – Ranked choice voting will be used in important primaries this month in Maine (June 9) and Washington, D.C. (June 16).
June will also see crowded primaries with unrepresentative outcomes in California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland as well as low-turnout runoffs in Georgia and Alabama.
Ranked choice voting (RCV) would solve these problems – delivering a majority winner in a crowded field without a runoff.
Below is more information on RCV and the June primaries:
- Ranked choice voting is reshaping campaigns in Maine and Washington, DC – including with “cross-endorsements”
With RCV, voters are able to express support for several candidates. Candidates are rewarded for showing areas of common ground with their opponents – a type of collaboration that’s almost impossible to imagine in a “choose-one” election.
As Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander did in last year’s New York City mayoral primary, several candidates have “cross-endorsed” each other in both Maine and Washington, D.C.
In the Maine governor’s race, Republicans David Jones and Ben Midgley have encouraged voters to rank them first and second; Robert Wessels has encouraged his voters to rank Jonathan Bush second. On the Democratic side, Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, and Hannah Pingree encouraged voters to rank all of them at a joint event. Bellows also complimented each of her rivals on the debate stage.
In Washington, D.C., candidates have cross-endorsed in the Ward 1 Democratic primary, the At-Large council Democratic primary, and the special election for At-Large council.
- Primary problems in “choose-one” elections
“Fewest votes wins” in crowded primaries: In crowded June primaries for open seats like Maryland’s 5th (Hoyer), New York’s 12th (Nadler), and New Jersey’s 11th (Watson Coleman), polling suggests that candidates could win with as little as 20% of the vote. These candidates can effectively win election – and nearly guarantee re-election – by winning a small fraction of the primary electorate. In 2022, 120 congressional and statewide primaries were won with less than half the vote; in this year’s Illinois primaries, candidates won with as little as 24%.
Runoffs mean higher costs, longer campaigns, and fewer voters: Some states have attempted to ensure majority winners with runoff elections. But in the last 30 years, 97% of runoffs had lower turnout than the initial election, with a median turnout decline of 41%.
In last week’s Texas runoff, GOP Senate primary turnout fell 36%, with Ken Paxton receiving fewer votes than John Cornyn got when he finished first in the primary. Turnout decline was even higher on the Democratic side – falling 71% for the safe-seat Democratic primary between Colin Allred and Julie Johnson in Texas’s 33rd.
Georgia and Alabama will likely see a similar decline for open-seat governor and Senate primaries on June 16.
RCV would improve California’s top-two primary: For months, California Democrats have feared they might be “locked out” of the gubernatorial election because of the state’s top-two all-candidate primary. In May, a Democratic strategist launched a ballot initiative campaign to repeal the top-two primary and revert to traditional party primaries.
Though a Democratic lockout now seems less likely, California could address this issue with RCV – either using it in the primary to narrow the field to two, or adopting Alaska’s system that advances the top four finishers to a November election with RCV.
- How ranked choice voting will impact outcomes in Maine and D.C.
Five Democrats and seven Republicans are running for Maine’s open governor’s seat; four Democrats are seeking the tossup 2nd congressional district. Recent polling suggests that no candidate will earn 50% of voters’ first choices – meaning voters’ backup choices will be critical.
Washington, D.C. polling suggests that RCV will be critical in the race for D.C. mayor, congressional delegate, and city offices.
Ranked choice voting is party- and ideology-neutral. Candidates benefit by responding to the different incentives of RCV, by reaching out to more voters (including those who might rank them second or third) and encouraging voters to use their rankings.
In ranked choice voting elections, “come-from-behind” victories are rare – but they’re a feature, not a bug. Of the 548 single-winner RCV races since 2004, the candidate with the most first-choice support has won 516 times (or 94%). “Come-from-behind” winners may occur when the first-choice leader has a small lead, fails to build support beyond their base, and/or benefits from vote-splitting among other candidates.
Ranked choice voting information
Ranked choice voting has grown from just 10 cities in 2016 to approximately 50 states, counties, and cities reaching 17 million Americans across the nation. It is used in the most populous cities in six states.
Research over several years shows that RCV is delivering on its promise of less toxic campaigning, and that candidates in RCV elections reach out to more voters. Voters overwhelmingly say they like and understand ranked choice voting. More women and people of color run for office and win with ranked choice voting.
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