Why ranked-choice voting is a win for Republicans

With the entrance of Mike Pence, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum into the race this month, there are now 13 major candidates running in the GOP presidential primary, including a former president and vice president, governors, senators and business leaders.

The size and diversity of the field should be a strength, but under our current election rules, it actually creates major problems. Candidates split the vote with one another. Long shots like Christie or Burgum are cast as distractions or spoilers, instead of being appreciated for the ideas they bring to the contest. Voters fear “wasting” their vote on anyone besides a front-runner. Ultimately, instead of being energized and united behind a consensus nominee, we feel frustrated and divided.

There is a simple solution to these complicated problems: Give voters backup choices. If a voter’s first choice can’t win, their vote counts for their second choice, and so on.

This voting method — usually known as ranked-choice voting — is how Virginia Republicans nominated now-Gov. Glenn Youngkin in a seven-candidate contest in 2021. It may be our best shot at allowing all candidates to run and make their case to the American people. It would also free voters to select candidates from their own state (so-called “favorite sons”).

For example, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie enters the race as a long-shot candidate. Many think he could add a lot to the process, as he is willing to challenge former President Trump both stylistically and politically. But voters in his home state (and elsewhere) might be concerned about “wasting” their vote if they vote for him. With ranked-choice voting, voters could rank him first and a front-runner second or third. We could have our cake and eat it too.

Same goes for South Carolina voters, who have an all-important early primary and two longshot “favorite son” candidates, in Nikki Haley and Tim Scott. Instead of worrying about splitting the vote between their two home-state candidates, voters could rank Haley and Scott first and second (or vice versa).

It’s not just who’s running, but also who’s decided not to — popular New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu just announced that he would not run in the primary because “a crowded field (could) hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35%.” Popular former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made exactly the same argument when he decided not to run earlier this year. We would argue America and Republicans are worse off for not having an opportunity to hear Sununu and Hogan’s ideas — perspective and vision from two governors who have repeatedly won in purple and blue states.

Just by the simple step of giving voters backup choices, we’d create the conditions for more Republican candidates’ voices to be heard. Candidates would also have an incentive to find some common ground and seek those second- and third-choice votes, instead of just slinging mud at their opponents all the time. More voters would have cast a vote for the ultimate nominee, even as a second or third choice. We could identify the strongest consensus conservative to be our standard-bearer for the party.

Let’s go back to Virginia: In 2021, Youngkin, now-Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and now-Attorney General Jason Miyares all won big after taking a clear majority of Republican voters, despite crowded fields, in a ranked-choice primary. These were Virginia Republicans’ first statewide wins since 2009, and showed that the state’s blue trend was not irreversible. It is not a stretch to say that the voting system helped save the Republican Party of Virginia.

In 2022, Virginia Republicans continued this momentum by using ranked choice to nominate several congressional candidates. A report by the Center for Campaign Innovation compared two GOP congressional nomination contests that year — one that used ranked choice and one that didn’t. Both the nominee and the runners-up in a ranked-choice contest had a more favorable image among voters, and voters perceived the contest as a less negative campaign. This is exactly the type of contest that can strengthen our party in 2024 and beyond.

The problems with the way we nominate our presidential candidates are clear. So is at least one solution, with Virginia showing the way. If Republican state parties chose to use ranked-choice voting as an option for nominating candidates, they could guarantee that our party would choose the strongest consensus candidate, as well as encourage a deep and broad field of candidates in the race.

We are the party of ideas and free markets. Our best and brightest should be able to make their case to the American people. Voters should be able to support a long shot or favorite son without wasting their vote in the nominating process.

Ranked-choice voting is simply a better and easier way to handle our crowded presidential primary field than traditional plurality voting. It is an idea whose time has come.

Saul Anuzis is former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party.

Stan Lockhart is former chairman of the Utah Republican Party.

Both serve as consultants to FairVote, a 501 organization that advocates electoral reform in the United States.