Spoiling for Donato’s Seat
The race for State Representative of the 35th Middlesex District in nearby Medford and Malden is underway and will be decided in the Democratic Primary on September 16th. The race includes two challengers, Patrick McCabe and Jim Caralis, both of whom are ostensibly running to the left of incumbent State Rep Paul Donato. A clear recipe for a spoiled election.
Indeed, there’s a distinct possibility that progressive Democrats will split their vote between McCabe and Caralis, ensuring Donato’s re-election. Whenever there are three or more candidates running for a single seat under our plurality voting system, chances are the winner won’t get a majority of the vote. The “winner” of a plurality election could very well lose in a head-to-head match with every other candidate in the race! Our current system simply doesn’t function when more than 2 candidates run.
If we had Instant Runoff Voting, then progressives in the 35th Middlesex district could rank: 1. McCabe, 2. Caralis, 3. Donato; or 1. Caralis, 2. McCabe, 3. Donato. Such voting would prevent the two challengers from splitting the vote with one another. Of course, if a majority prefer Donato to the two challengers, then he would rightfully still win re-election. Regardless of a candidate’s ideology, IRV requires the winner to demonstrate a majority of support.
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