Great post, I would add my theory that there's a funny quirk to RCV local elections in the US where us progressives/liberals get so focused on the idea of strategic voting, we forget about strategic politics. The 2021 Minneapolis mayoral election is a good example. As a longtime student and sometime participant in Minneapolis politics I really thought that after everything that happened in the summer of 2020 (perhaps you've read about it...) Mayor Jacob Frey wouldn't run again (indeed maybe resign because at times he seems to have taken criticisms of him quite personally). But then he did run again and a guy I assume could never win reelection did (how do you preside over, well, everything that happened and win? I guess you just do?) Frey's opponents bet big on a "Don't Rank Frey" strategy that makes sense on a voter level (and only 3 rankings allowed in Minneapolis) but tons of voters just didn't follow, see here for more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/11/04/how-jacob-frey-won-reelection
Personally I would have suggested finding a bigger candidate to take him on, but in the end it was a community activists who had never been involved in politics until 2020 and a former state legislator from the suburbs with few ties to the city. So a ton of people just well, "Did The Cuomo" and voted for Frey, or alternatives often in a non-strategic manner.
Great post, I would add my theory that there's a funny quirk to RCV local elections in the US where us progressives/liberals get so focused on the idea of strategic voting, we forget about strategic politics. The 2021 Minneapolis mayoral election is a good example. As a longtime student and sometime participant in Minneapolis politics I really thought that after everything that happened in the summer of 2020 (perhaps you've read about it...) Mayor Jacob Frey wouldn't run again (indeed maybe resign because at times he seems to have taken criticisms of him quite personally). But then he did run again and a guy I assume could never win reelection did (how do you preside over, well, everything that happened and win? I guess you just do?) Frey's opponents bet big on a "Don't Rank Frey" strategy that makes sense on a voter level (and only 3 rankings allowed in Minneapolis) but tons of voters just didn't follow, see here for more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/11/04/how-jacob-frey-won-reelection
Personally I would have suggested finding a bigger candidate to take him on, but in the end it was a community activists who had never been involved in politics until 2020 and a former state legislator from the suburbs with few ties to the city. So a ton of people just well, "Did The Cuomo" and voted for Frey, or alternatives often in a non-strategic manner.