Candidates nominated with under 40% of the vote in Maryland and New York primary elections – FairVote

Maryland and New York held primary elections this week, with several open seats attracting large and competitive fields. However, those crowded fields caused a problem. Winners of several key races were backed by only a small share of voters; in one case, just 32% of voters supported the nominee.

Maryland and New York could solve their plurality problem by adopting ranked choice voting (RCV) – a reform that gives voters more choice, and ensures the winners of elections have majority support.

Plurality winners in the Maryland primary

When votes are spread between many candidates, winners can emerge with less than majority support. For example, nearly two dozen candidates ran to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 5th Congressional District. Hoyer was the second-ranking Democrat in the House for two decades, and according to Baltimore-based political scientist Jé St Sume:

Whoever wins this primary will do more than fill an open seat… They will help shape the Democratic Party’s direction heading into November and, potentially, the 2028 presidential cycle.

However, when “choose one” elections do not produce majority winners, it can be unclear whether the winners best reflect the preferences of voters, or simply benefitted from the way votes were split among candidates. On Tuesday, Maryland State Delegate Adrian Boafo won with just 32% of the vote – meaning 68% of voters picked someone else. 

Nearby Montgomery County – the most populous county in Maryland – had three primaries where no candidate earned support from a majority of voters. Most notably, the Democratic primary for Montgomery County executive – a critically important role as chief executive of this million-person county – was won with 41% of the vote. This marks the third Democratic primary in a row for this seat in which the winner lacked majority support – and in which the margin between the top two candidates was dwarfed by the number of votes for lower-performing candidates.

Margins of victory in recent Democratic Montgomery County executive primaries

Maryland’s 6th Congressional District also saw notable plurality wins on Tuesday. The Democratic and Republican primaries saw winners emerge with just 44% and 43% of the vote, respectively.

Plurality winners in the New York primary

New York State also held primary elections yesterday, and Rep. Jerry Nadler’s retirement drew a crowded Democratic field in the 12th Congressional District. New York Assembly Member Micah Lasher won that primary with 39% of the vote. His closest competitor had 35%, and other candidates totaled 26% of the vote. 

Boafo and Lasher are heavily favored to win their deep-blue seats in November, meaning a fraction of a fraction of the electorate is effectively choosing the next representatives for their entire districts. Overall on Tuesday, there were six congressional primaries in Maryland and three in New York State in which winners are on track to emerge without majority support from their party.

Ranked choice voting lets more voters be heard

Ranked choice voting would solve this problem, ensuring nominees have support from a majority of their party. With RCV, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one has a majority of votes, the lowest-performing candidates are eliminated until a candidate reaches 50% support. 

Voters can vote honestly, without worrying about whether their favorite candidate has a chance to win. If your top choice is eliminated, your vote counts for your next choice. In this year’s Montgomery County executive primary, for example, the nearly 23,000 voters who cast a ballot for a lower-performing candidate would have been able to weigh in between the two frontrunners.

Many voters across both states have already embraced this idea. New York City uses RCV in its local primaries, and 76% of voters say they want to keep or expand RCV. Takoma Park, MD also uses RCV in local elections. The Montgomery County, MD delegation to the state legislature has repeatedly sponsored legislation to allow RCV in its County Council elections.

Maryland and New York are well positioned to expand the use of RCV, and deliver more representative outcomes across state and local contests. To learn more, visit Ranked Choice Voting Maryland and Common Cause New York.