Audrey Fahlberg writes for National Review Online about a proposal that’s likely to split leading Democrats.
Some Democratic activists and lawmakers are pushing the Democratic National Committee to expand ranked-choice voting ahead of the 2028 presidential primary elections, Axios scoops. That effort is expected to face strong pushback from critics inside the DNC who argue that the change would undermine state election processes and inject logistical chaos into the out-of-power party at a time when Democrats are struggling to revamp their brand, sources tell National Review.
Pro–ranked choice voting Democrats believe that the election process has been successful in places such as Alaska, Maine, and of course New York City, where progressive Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani recently romped to victory.
As Axios explains, widespread adoption of ranked-choice voting would require support from the national party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee as well as a majority of the DNC’s 450 members. But the proposal would then require buy-in from state parties and changes to state election laws — no easy feat in states that are controlled by Republicans.
Here’s how one DNC member who is critical of ranked-choice voting described the intraparty dynamic to National Review: “Progressives [are] trying to follow Mamdani playbook and that’s not what the DNC wants to project right now. Conversations are already swirling about what state goes first in primaries and that’s more of a fraught issue than this pipe dream. Dems already have a lot to focus on right now with logistics. Adding more for states to do is not ideal right now.”
Renewed consideration of ranked-choice voting comes as the DNC is still in dire straits financially and as Democrats are about to kick off their 2028 primary calendar debate in earnest. Remember: Former President Joe Biden upended the primary calendar in 2024 when he pressured the DNC to grant South Carolina first-in-the-nation primary status, infuriating New Hampshire Democrats who held an unsanctioned primary that cycle in protest.
