Imagine the following result for Governor of Texas:
Candidate A gets 35%
Candidate B gets 33%
Candidate C gets 32%
In Texas, Candidate A wins. Never mind that far fewer than a majority approve, Texas can have an unpopular Governor elected.
Meanwhile, Texas cities with more than 200,000 in population require a clear majority winner for city elections. That comes from Texas Election Code §275.002, which Henry Cuellar, as Secretary of State in 2001, interpreted to require a traditional majority and therefore to prohibit Austin from using instant-runoff voting.
Isn’t that nuts?
For this reason, the city of Austin is not allowed to implement Ranked Choice voting, which Austin voters approved in 2021. In contrast, under Texas Election Code § 2.001 we can elect a Governor without a majority for a state with a population of over 31 million.
That could happen in November.