“I've sat in rooms where we as Democrats have high-fived when a Libertarian party candidate gets into a competitive race,” recalls former Oregon House Speaker Dan Rayfield. “That's not democracy.”

“And Republicans high five when a Green Party candidate gets into the race,” says Rayfield, currently running for Attorney General in Oregon. “That's not democracy.”

Dan Rayfield is describing the spoiler effect of plurality voting, where a third party candidate with minimal support can determine the election outcome. Rayfield joined forces with Oregon-based campaign manager, Mike Alfoni, to do something about that spoiler effect. Namely, to promote ranked choice voting (RCV) first at the county and then the state level. 

“I love the impossible, which is why I did this in the first place,” says Alfoni with reference to the legislature’s recent passage of RCV for state and federal elections. Oregon is the first state in the country to do so. “And because everyone told me we couldn't do this, and then we did it anyway.”

How did Rayfield and Alfoni blaze this Oregon trail for RCV? It took many years of patient effort in and outside the legislature, such as building a supporting network of community groups. And it took compromise, such as agreeing to remove state level legislature elections at the request of County Clerks. 

Tune in to hear more about first-in-the-nation Oregon, the prospects there for citizen ballot passage in November, and whether this Oregon trail could be followed by other reform leaders and legislatures around the country seeking to depolarize our politics. 

The Purple Principle is a Fluent Knowledge production; original music by Ryan Adair Rooney.