Boston could become the seventh of the 100 largest cities to adopt ranked-choice voting

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Thursday, May 22, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Boston could become the seventh of the 100 largest cities to adopt ranked-choice voting
  2. Eighteen members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026
  3. Republicans control 12% more state legislative seats than Democrats

Boston could become the seventh of the 100 largest cities to adopt ranked-choice voting

On May 14, the nonpartisan Boston City Council voted 8-4 to approve a home rule petition to adopt ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city elections.

Mayor Michelle Wu (D), who said she would sign the measure, needs to approve the petition before it goes to the state’s Legislature for consideration. If the Legislature approves the measure and Gov. Maura Healey (D) signs it, the petition will appear before the city’s voters for final consideration.

City elections would begin using RCV no earlier than one year after voters approve the proposal. Under the system, voters would be able to rank up to four candidates per office. 

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, who introduced the petition, said, “This is about making sure that we are building a better democracy by electing candidates who are able to build a broad majority of support, who are not just speaking to their base, who are not just speaking to extremists, but who are doing the work necessary to build broad coalitions, and to represent everyone in a district.”

Opponents of the measure said that the change would confuse voters and create unnecessary challenges for election administrators. Councilor Edward Flynn said, “The Election Department pretty much told me that they don’t want to see this implemented. […] They don’t believe now is the time to make such a dramatic, significant change to how people vote.”

Councilor Erin Murphy said, “Adding Ranked Choice Voting would introduce unnecessary complexity to the process, confusing voters and potentially disenfranchising those already marginalized, particularly seniors and residents whose first language isn’t English.” Councilor Julia Mejia, who supported the petition, disagreed, saying, “Immigrants are not dolts—they can learn a new voting system.” 

Of the 100 largest cities in the United States by population, six use or are scheduled to use RCV for their city elections: Oakland, California, San Francisco, California, Washington, D.C., New York, New York, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.

Washington, D.C., was the most recent of those six cities to adopt the system after voters approved Initiative 83, 73% to 27% in 2024. Meanwhile, Portland was the most recent of those six cities to use the system for the first time in 2024 after voters approved Measure 26-228, 58% to 42% in 2022. 

While the number of large cities using RCV has increased recently, more states have adopted legislation opposing its use. So far this year, five states—Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have adopted legislation banning RCV statewide, bringing the total number of states that prohibit RCV to 16. Fourteen of the 16 states that have banned the system did so with a Republican trifecta in control of state government. Florida and Tennessee were the first states to ban RCV, doing so in 2022.

Click here for a closer look at ranked-choice voting (RCV).

Eighteen members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026

Since our previous update on congressional retirements, five members of the U.S. House of Representatives have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. 

Here are the latest members to announce their retirements:

Additionally, Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) died on May 21 after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in November 2024. Connolly is not included in this analysis because these figures do not include incumbents who leave office before the end of their term.

Including the announcements above, 18 members of Congress—five senators and 13 representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. Compared to previous years, this year has had the highest number of retirement announcements at this point in the election cycle since 2018.

U.S. Senate

Five senators—four Democrats and one Republican—will not seek re-election in 2026. They are Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

At this point in the last four election cycles, there were four retirement announcements in 2024, five in 2022, four in 2020, and none in 2018.

U.S. House of Representatives

Thirteen representatives—six Democrats and seven Republicans—will not seek re-election in 2026. Of the 13 representatives not seeking re-election:

At this point in the last four election cycles, there were 10 retirement announcements in 2024, 12 in 2022, five in 2020, and eight in 2018.

Congressional retirements by month

Between January 2011 and today, 365 members of the House or Senate announced they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of announcements of any month at 69. The fewest announcements—12—happened in June.

Click here for more information on the incumbents not seeking re-election in 2026.

Republicans control 12% more state legislative seats than Democrats

After the 2024 elections and ahead of the 2025 elections, we examined every legislature to determine their respective partisan compositions. One of our goals was to see if the partisan composition of state legislatures differed from the nationwide partisan composition of voters.

Nationwide, Republicans control 885 (12%) more state legislative seats than Democrats. Republicans control 4,109 (55.6%) legislative seats, while Democrats control 3,224 (43.6%). Independent, nonpartisan, and other legislators control 23 (0.3%) seats, while 31 (0.4%) are vacant.

  • Across the lower chamber of legislatures, Republicans control 2,985 seats to Democrats’ 2,391.
  • Across the upper chamber of legislatures, Republicans control 1,124 seats to Democrats’ 833.

The composition of legislatures nationwide is different from the partisan composition of voters. According to a Pew Research Center report from April 9, 2024, 49% of registered voters nationwide are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 48% are Republican or lean Republican.

Most Democratic and Republican legislatures by overall composition

Least Democratic or Republican state legislatures by overall composition

  • Minnesota and Pennsylvania have the closest overall partisan compositions by percentage. Democrats have a one-seat advantage out of 201 (0.5%) in the Minnesota Legislature, and Republicans have a three-seat advantage out of 253 (1.2%) in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. 

Legislative elections in 2025

This year, there will be elections for the New Jersey Legislature and the Virginia House of Delegates. We have identified the Virginia House as a battleground chamber. 

Heading into the 2025 elections, Virginia Democrats have a four-seat advantage out of 140 total (2.9%) in the General Assembly and a two-seat advantage out of 100 total (2%) in the House.

In New Jersey, Democrats have a 34-seat advantage out of 120 total (28.3%) in the Legislature and a 24-seat advantage out of 80 total (30%) in the General Assembly.

Click here to learn more about competitiveness in legislatures this year.