Emma Platoff, “Progressive loss in State House primary resurfaces debate over ranked-choice voting,” Boston Globe (3/3/21)
It was “a tragic thing to see that the first election to happen after the defeat of [ranked-choice voting] on the ballot last year is one where ranked-choice voting very well could have led to a different outcome,” said Jonathan Cohn, elections committee chair for Progressive Massachusetts, which had backed Jaramillo. “Given that 64 percent of voters didn’t wake up that day and say they wanted to vote for a Democrat who supported Donald Trump, it’s entirely possible it could’ve led to a different outcome.”
Lisa Kashinsky, “Calls for ranked-choice voting in Massachusetts renew after 19th Suffolk primary,” Boston Herald (3/3/21)
Jonathan Cohn of Progressive Massachusetts, which backed Jaramillo, said the results also show the need to redraw some districts to better represent changing demographics.
Still, he said it’s “bitterly ironic and unfortunate that the first open election after the failure of Question 2 last year has a candidate who is by far more conservative than the others in the field win with 36%.”
