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2/11/2026
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Sweet victory: Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Strawberry wins ranked-choice candy election
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STATE HOUSE – Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Strawberry proved itself the people’s choice as the winner of a candy election held yesterday at the State House to demonstrate how ranked-choice voting works.
Ranked-choice voting, also called instant run-off voting, allows voters to rank the candidates in order of preference in races when there are more than two candidates. The votes are tabulated in rounds, with the lowest-ranked candidates eliminated in each round and their votes redistributed to their voters’ next choice until one candidate achieves a majority.
Rep. Rebecca Kislak, Rep. Jennifer A. Stewart, Sen. Meghan E. Kallman, Sen. Samuel D. Zurier and Ocean State Ranked Choice Voting hosted yesterday’s candy election to demonstrate how ranked-choice voting works. The legislators are introducing two bills that would institute ranked-choice voting in Rhode Island: one for presidential preference primaries, beginning with the 2028 presidential election; and the other to enable its use for local elections.
Yesterday’s election — held online and open to anyone — pitted the Ghiradelli strawberry crème truffle against Conversation Hearts, Haribo Sour Hearts, Nerds Gummy Clusters and Russell Stover Sugar Free Chocolates and asked voters to rank the five candies in their order of preference. Samples of all the candidates (candydates?) were available at tables outside the House and Senate chambers at the start of yesterday’s legislative sessions.
It was a competitive race that went to four rounds before any candidate amassed a majority from the 197 votes cast. In the first round, Ghiradelli won 38%, Gummy Clusters 31%, Conversation Hearts 12%, Sour Hearts 11% and the sugar-free chocolate 8%. In round two, the sugar-free chocolate’s votes were redistributed to its voters’ next choices. Sour Hearts were eliminated in the next round, then Conversation Hearts.
In this election, the order of the candies’ popularity did not change from round to round. The difference between the top two contenders remained about the same -about 8 percentage points — in all of the first three rounds. But in the final round, when it came down to just the two of them, Nerds Gummy Clusters narrowed the gap considerably, with the final tally at 52% for Ghiradelli and 48% for Nerds Gummy Clusters.
Full election results, in interactive charts, are available at this link.
The exercise was a sweet victory in bringing attention to the concept of ranked-choice voting.
“With five delicious choices, this election was a good way to show people how ranked-choice voting allows you to select your favorite candidate without having to worry about how other people might vote, because if your first choice is not popular, you know that your second choice will count if it would make a difference. This was a fun way to give Rhode Islanders a taste of a voting method that is gaining support throughout the country, and one that we could use in Rhode Island to give voters more of a voice than a simple pick-one ballot,” said Representative Kislak (D-Dist. 4, Providence).
Said Senator Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence), “Ranked-choice provides nuance in elections, giving people a way to express their preferences about all the candidates before them. Not only does it safeguard against a candidate winning without support from a majority of voters, it also encourages cleaner, more positive campaigns. It’s a smarter, more accurate way of collecting voters’ preferences, and we would love for Rhode Island to enjoy its benefits.”
Said Representative Stewart (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), “Of course our candy election is a lot of fun, but it also does an excellent job of showing how easy ranked-choice voting is for voters and how effective it is at gauging the level of support there is for each of the candidates. It allows voters to vote for the candidate they really want. Even in elections with a crowded field, or when their preferred candidate might be an underdog, they can vote their honest opinion and still have a voice in the results no matter how that candidate does.”
Said Senator Zurier (D-Dist. 3, Providence), “As our election demonstrated, ranked-choice voting doesn’t necessarily change who the winner is, but it does give a real voice to all the voters whose first-choice candidate doesn’t win. Especially when you can look at the changes from round to round, it provides context into what voters really want, and of course results in the election of the candidate with the most support.”
Proponents of ranked-choice voting point to its elimination of “spoiler” candidates or vote-splitting — situations where two or more candidates who appeal to a group of like-minded voters split that group’s votes, enabling the victory of a different candidate even if that candidate doesn’t win a majority. There also exists research suggesting ranked-choice voting results in more civil campaigns and less negative campaigning.
Maine and Alaska have instituted rank-choice voting statewide, and 35 cities and three counties around the country employ it for local elections. Six municipalities in Massachusetts have approved it for local elections.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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