It is no secret that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), known as AOC, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), known as MTG, live on opposite ends of the political spectrum. No matter what anyone thinks of either representative and their views, it is undeniable that they both frequently make headlines for taking stances out of step with their party’s mainstream and with American politics in general. They also share something else in common: only a tiny sliver of voters cast meaningful votes that elect AOC and MTG to Congress – 7% and 20%, respectively. What is a meaningful vote, and why are so few required to elect AOC and MTG? Let’s dig in.
What is a Meaningful Vote?
Even though general election turnout can be high, the number of votes that actually impact election outcomes is quite low. This is because most districts at both the federal and state levels are dominated by one party or the other, making general elections uncompetitive. This, coupled with closed party primaries that are uncompetitive and draw few voters, ensures that most Americans are represented by legislators elected by a small margin of voters in their districts.
A meaningful vote is a vote that matters to the outcome of a competitive election – and it has greater weight in determining an election’s outcome. Specifically, meaningful votes are cast in a competitive general election (decided by 10 percentage points or less), or in a dominant party’s primary that features more than one candidate.
AOC’s Meaningful Vote History
AOC was first elected to Congress in 2018 after she successfully “primaried” Joseph Crowley, a ten-term representative and the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus at the time. Since the district leans heavily Democratic, the only opportunity to cast meaningful votes was in the closed Democratic primary (AOC vs. Crowley). Just 29,778 voters participated in that primary and cast meaningful votes to elect AOC, meaning that only about 7% of the district’s eligible voters played a role in deciding that AOC would replace Crowley in Congress.
In the next election in 2020, a presidential year, AOC faced three challengers in the closed Democratic primary, but none were strong, and she won the contest with ease. Though turnout in the primary more than doubled from 2018, only 16% of eligible voters in her district – though their votes were meaningful – went on to re-elect her. In 2022, AOC did not face any competition within the Democratic primary, and the general election remained as uncompetitive as ever: No voters cast meaningful votes to reelect her that year.
This past cycle, in 2024, AOC once again faced a weak, nominal challenge in the closed Democratic primary, and she again won the contest by a huge margin. Turnout was even lower than in 2018 — just 24,491 voters participated. At the same time, the pool of eligible voters in the district increased, meaning that just 4% of eligible voters in AOC’s district cast meaningful votes to reelect her in 2024. On average, across all four cycles, just 7% of eligible voters have cast meaningful votes to send AOC to Congress.
Source: Shutterstock; Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
MTG’s Meaningful Vote History
MTG was first elected to Congress in 2020 after she won an open seat Republican primary. Her district leans very heavily Republican, so the only opportunity to cast meaningful votes was in the GOP primary. Unlike New York, Georgia has open party primaries, which allow all voters to choose whether to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. As a result, primary turnout tends to be higher – but the lack of general election competition means that the share of voters who cast meaningful votes to elect MTG is still very low.
108,816 voters participated in the 2020 GOP primary, which means 20% of the district’s eligible voters cast meaningful votes to send MTG to Congress. Technically, MTG had to win a GOP primary runoff to claim the nomination because she did not earn majority support in the first round. She won the runoff by 14 points in an even lower turnout contest.
Much like AOC, MTG also faced multiple challengers in the GOP primary during her first bid for reelection in 2022. Also like AOC, none of the challengers were particularly strong, and she won the contest easily. That year, 103,841 voters participated in the GOP primary, meaning that once again, about 20% of voters cast meaningful votes to send her back to office. Finally, in 2024, MTG did not face a challenger in the GOP primary, and the district remained very safe for her party in the general election. As a result, in 2024, no voters cast meaningful votes to send MTG back to Congress for a third term. Overall, across all three cycles, an average of 13% of her district’s eligible voters have cast meaningful votes to send MTG to Washington.
Conclusion
The meaningful votes metric reveals just how few people actually decide who represents us—especially in the case of headline-grabbing figures like AOC and MTG. When a small share of voters holds outsized influence through closed primaries, it’s hard to know whether the outcomes truly reflect the broader electorate. If we want more representative results, we need to rethink how our elections play out. To that end, Unite America has found that open, all-candidate primaries—where every voter can participate, and candidates must earn majority support to win—can increase accountability and give more voters a meaningful say in who ultimately gets elected. Learn more about the benefits of all-candidate primaries here.
