So a lot of candidates are going to run for president in 2020. Like, A LOT of candidates. Coming off a big midterms win this month across the country, many Democrats thinking about running for POTUS feel that they will be able to ride the wave of enthusiasm into 2020 and be the one that defeats Trump come Election Day. The problem however is that seemingly EVERY Democratic politician feels that way.
In no particular order, below are just a FEW of the candidates that are considering throwing their hat in the ring come next year:
Former Vice President Joe Biden Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Senator Cory Booker Senator Elizabeth Warren Senator Sherrod Brown Senator Kamala Harris Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Senator Bernie Sanders Michael Avenatti Former Secretary of HUD Julian Castro LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Governor Steve Bullock Governor John Hickenlooper Governor Jay Inslee Former Governor Terry McAuliffe Representative Beto O’Rourke Representative Eric Swalwell Tom Steyer West Virginia State Senator Richard OjedaOne of these candidates has already declared for office while several others will likely declare for office in the first few months of the new year. With so many candidates likely running for president, a candidate could easily win one of the first few primary states with a mere 12-13% (or less) of the vote. What’s to say that candidate won’t be Michael Avenatti? Or boxer Oscar De La Hoya (who has stated his interest in running for president)? It might sound crazy to think that either of those candidates could win a primary, but I thought the same thing in 2016 about a reality TV show host and yet here we are. In a crowded primary, anything can happen.
But in order to keep just any candidate from sneaking their way through the 2020 primary, should Democrats institute Ranked Choice Voting? Ranked Choice Voting (or “RCV”) is a system of voting where instead of just picking one candidate for office, you instead rank your favorite candidates in order of preference.
When the votes are added up, if no candidate gets over 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes gets eliminated, and the voters that picked that candidate will then have their votes go to their second choice candidate. This continues until one candidate gets 50% plus one vote, ensuring that the winner of the primary will have the broadest support possible among Democratic voters going into the general election against President Trump.
RCV has recently been enacted in Maine and it even help decide the Maine 2nd congressional district race where after trailing in the first round of voting, Democrat Jared Golden defeated incumbent Bruce Poliquin when the two independent candidates were eventually eliminated and their votes were redistributed to the other candidates.
So while this method of voting may not bode well for candidates with very narrow support, it does bode well for whichever candidate can build the broadest support among the party and a gain a strong coalition of voters throughout the primary. And for millions of Democrats that are eager to defeat President Trump come 2020, Ranked Choice Voting might be the best way to do that very thing.