• DNC Chair Ken Martin met privately with advocates in late October
• Proposal follows Mamdani’s decisive New York City mayoral primary win
• Implementation would require approval from 450-member DNC body

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — Democratic politicians and activists are privately lobbying party leadership to adopt ranked-choice voting for the 2028 presidential primaries, a change supporters argue would strengthen the party following divisive nomination contests in recent cycles.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin and other top party officials met with advocates at a late October breakfast gathering in Washington, according to three sources who spoke to Axios. The meeting included Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Biden campaign pollster Celinda Lake, and representatives from the nonprofit FairVote Action.

Mamdani factor

The push comes after ranked-choice voting drew national attention during New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, where state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo by 12 percentage points after the ranked-choice tabulation. Mamdani secured 56% of the vote in three rounds of counting, with approximately 78% of voters choosing to rank multiple candidates on their ballots.

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The 33-year-old democratic socialist’s campaign demonstrated how the voting method can benefit outsider candidates who build broad coalitions rather than relying on plurality wins in crowded fields.

Proponent arguments

Supporters told DNC officials the system would prevent votes from being discarded when candidates drop out and encourage coalition-building rather than divisive attacks between contenders. Lake argued the method addresses current voter sentiment toward party leadership.

“It gives a better chance to new faces, outsider candidates, people with grassroots movements, people who run positive campaigns, people who have something new to offer. It really meets the moment.”

Raskin, a longtime ranked-choice voting advocate, referenced lingering divisions from previous primaries when making the case for change.

“It favors positive politics rather than negative politics, and that’s a great thing for the Democratic Party primaries. Oftentimes there’s a sense of acrimony and bitterness that can last decades. Think about the race between Hillary and Bernie Sanders.”

Mixed reception

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The proposal generated divided reactions within party ranks. One DNC member told Axios they were “totally open to ranked-choice voting,” while another expressed skepticism, stating the party should follow state-level experimentation rather than mandate changes from Washington.

Implementation faces significant procedural hurdles. The DNC would need approval from its rules and bylaws committee, followed by a majority vote from the 450-member body. State parties would also need to consent, and many states would require changes to existing election laws.

Broader landscape

The debate unfolds against a mixed national backdrop for ranked-choice voting. Alaska and Maine use the system for state and federal elections, while cities including San Francisco and Minneapolis have adopted it for local contests. Washington, D.C. voters approved ranked-choice voting in 2024 for implementation beginning in 2026.

However, 17 states have now banned the voting method, with Republican-controlled legislatures passing prohibitions in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Kentucky in 2024 alone. Voters in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon rejected ranked-choice initiatives during last year’s elections.

Party moderates may approach the proposal cautiously, given that the current system produced their preferred nominees in Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden during the 2016 and 2020 primaries. The DNC declined to comment on the discussions.

Should political parties experiment with alternative voting methods to reduce divisiveness in primary elections?

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