Takeaways from the Alaska RCV Election
Liz White, Executive Director | September 1
All eyes were on Alaska last night, as we received the long-anticipated results of their Special Congressional Election - the first election decided with Ranked Choice Voting since the reform was passed there in 2020.
From the Alaska Division of Elections: In the 2020 General Election, voters approved an initiative to establish a Nonpartisan Pick One Primary Election system and a Ranked Choice Voting General Election system.
Democrat Mary Peltola won the seat vacated by the late Rep. Don Young and will serve in Congress for the remainder of his term. She defeated Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. While the bulk of the media coverage has been focused on the fact that Peltola is the first Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress in over 50 years or that she is the first Native Alaskan to ever be elected to Congress - both notable news stories! - there are some important takeaways for Virginia as we move forward with our own conversations about Ranked Choice Voting.
First, Ranked Choice Voting rewards positive, issues-based, consensus-building campaigns. According to FairVote, “Peltola ran a mostly positive, issues-focused campaign and she made attempts to connect with voters across the political spectrum.” Mary Peltola is not a cookie-cutter Democrat. Her campaign focused on issues that are specific to Alaska, such as fisheries and oil and gas exploration. She was able to delve into the specifics of these issues and others, in order to connect with traditionally Republican voters. That broad appeal led to a strong 40% finish on the first ballot and to almost 30% of Republican Nick Begich’s voters ranking her second, putting her over the majority threshold on the second ballot.
Second, individual candidates and campaigns matter. Sarah Palin is a household name and a polarizing figure, particularly in Alaska. Pair that with the fact that her campaign was vocally critical of RCV and she, herself, publicly refused to rank a second choice, Palin missed the opportunity to gain second-place support from Begich voters. At the end of a contentious campaign between the two Republicans, almost half of Begich voters did NOT rank Palin second, which made it impossible for her to come from behind to win.
From the Washington Post: John Coghill, a Republican former state senator…attributed Peltola’s win to the negative campaigning between the two GOP candidates in the race…”It’s a new system, and people campaigned like it was the old system.”
Third, data shows that voters like and understand Ranked Choice Voting. The biggest concern about RCV is that it will be confusing to voters, but this election in Alaska is the latest in a series of RCV elections where that has not proven to be true. 85% of Alaska voters said that ranking was simple, and 95% said that they received instructions on how to complete their RCV ballot. Virginia’s Board of Elections can piggyback off the extraordinary voter education efforts in Alaska to ensure that Virginia voters are comfortable with RCV when the time comes.
Finally, there is one key difference: Virginia is not looking to use RCV in general elections, only primaries and municipal elections. While the political upset is the focus of most of the response to Alaska’s election, that shouldn’t alarm anyone in Virginia. Currently, RCV is only being used in primary contests (Virginia Republicans used it to nominate their statewide candidates in 2021 and three of their Congressional candidates this year, and local Democratic committees have used it for years) and has been approved for use in City Council and elections for Boards of Supervisors, which are nonpartisan.
