Runoff elections suggested for crowded primary races

By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square

HARRISBURG, PA — Lawmakers want a change after years of crowded Republican primary races.
If their proposal goes forward, Pennsylvania voters could start seeing runoffs to determine candidates for a general election.

To “ensure consensus in primary elections,” Sens. Ryan Aument, R-Lititz, and Frank Farry, R-Langhorne, announced they will introduce a bill to create a primary runoff system. Such a system would require a primary candidate to win a majority of the vote, or else a runoff with the top two candidates will follow.

“The winner of a primary election should emerge as a clear consensus pick of that party, and this legislation is a step towards that goal,” the senators said, arguing that winning “with the support of only a small fraction of voters” leads to “voters feeling dissatisfied and unrepresented in general elections.”

In the 2022 Republican primaries, U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz won the nomination with only 31.2% of the vote, while gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano won the primary with 43% of the vote. Both candidates lost to their Democratic opponents in the general election.

“When a candidate wins with only 30% or 20% of the primary electorate’s vote, it leaves the majority of voters feeling like their vote didn’t count and their voice wasn’t heard,” the senators said. “This is not how a representative democracy should work. We need fair solutions to fix our system and restore a voice to the voters of this Commonwealth.”

A primary runoff system isn’t anything new. Almost a dozen states use runoffs, mostly in the South. States have different thresholds, however. Most states use a runoff if no candidate gets a majority.

In North Carolina, a candidate only needs a “substantial” plurality, defined as 30% plus one vote, to avoid a runoff. In South Dakota, runoffs only apply to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and governor’s race, triggered when no candidate gets 35% of the vote.

Recent Republican primaries have had crowded fields: the 2022 gubernatorial primary had nine candidates and the 2022 U.S. Senate race had seven. Likewise among the Pennsylvania Democrats, the Philadelphia mayoral primary had nine candidates, with former City Councilwoman Cherelle Parker winning the nomination with 33% of the vote.