Final Five Fund, Inc. is a political action committee that supports adopting ranked-choice voting systems across the country. It has funded groups that support ranked choice voting and all-party primaries in Nevada and New York state.

Businesswoman Katherine Gehl founded the group and the voter advocacy group Institute for Political Innovation (IPI) and the two groups share the same Chicago address. ^{1 2}

The group contributed almost $9 million to Nevada Voters First PAC, which was the ballot committee supporting the Question 3 initiative in 2022 which, if enacted, would create a ranked choice voting and all party primary system in Nevada. ³

Background

Businesswoman Katherine Gehl created Final Five Fund in 2021. ⁴ The group served as her funding vehicle to support ranked-choice voting campaigns across the United States. ⁵

Previously, she helped fund the left-of-center ballot committee Alaskans For Better Elections, which backed the successful Ballot Measure 2 in 2020, through the center-left advocacy organization Unite America. ⁶ Ballot Measure 2 enacted a “Top Four” system where all the candidates contest an open, all-party primary and the top four vote receivers advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Four candidates contest the general election and voters rank which candidates they prefer. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, candidates are eliminated based on their ranking by voters and their single votes are transferred to their next preference candidate until a candidate receives an absolute majority of remaining votes. ⁷

Final Five Voting

Final Five Fund supported “Final Five” voting which resembled Alaska’s “Top Four” voting system except instead of the top four vote receivers advancing out of the all-party primary, the top five vote receivers move on to the general election. ⁸

Gehl, who developed the concept, claimed that the “Final Five” system would result in better governance because it discouraged extreme partisan candidates that would run in traditional party primaries. ⁹

Nevada Ballot Initiative

Final Five Fund was one of the largest supporters of Nevada First Voters PAC, which supported the Nevada ballot measure Question 3 in the November 2022 election. Question 3, if enacted, would create a “Final Five” open all party primary and ranked choice voting system. ¹⁰

Final Five Fund contributed nearly $9 million to the campaign. Nevada First Voters PAC raised more money than in any candidate in Nevada in the 2022 elections with the majority of the money coming from out of state. ¹¹

In addition to Katherine Gehl donating through Final Five Fund, the group funneled donations from other wealthy backers such as Republican donor Ken Griffin and Democratic donors John Sobrato and Kathryn Murdoch. ¹²

Question 3 passed in November 2022, but Nevada law requires passage of constitutional amendments in two consecutive even-numbered year elections, so voters must approve it again in November 2024 in order for it to become law. ¹³

Advocacy In New York

In 2022, Final Five Fund donated $42,500 to New Yorkers for Competitive Elections, a group campaigning for “Final Five” elections in New York state. ¹⁴

Leadership

Katherine Gehl founded and operated Final Five Fund. She founded the Institute for Political Innovation, which advocates “Final Five” voting and other changes to the government. She was the president and CEO of Gehl Foods, which she sold in 2015. She sat on the boards of the left-of-center groups Unite America, New America, and Business for America. She also founded Democracy Found, a Wisconsin group that advocates for “Final Five” voting. ¹⁵

Despite her past as a Democratic donor and her membership on the boards of several left-of-center groups, she described herself as “politically homeless” as recently as October 2022. ¹⁶

1. “Final Five Fund, Inc.” Bizapedia. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.bizapedia.com/wi/final-five-fund-inc.html.
2. “Contact.” Institute for Political Innovation. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://political-innovation.org/contact/.
3. Hill, Jessica. “Nevada Ballot Question Raises More Money than Any Candidate in 2022 Election.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 20, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/nevada-ballot-question-raises-more-money-than-any-candidate-in-2022-election-2660586/.
4. “Final Five Fund, Inc.” Bizapedia. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.bizapedia.com/wi/final-five-fund-inc.html.
5. Mueller, Tabitha. “Open Primary, Ranked-Choice Ballot Measure Raises $2.2 Million in 2022 First Quarter.” The Nevada Independent. April 16, 2022. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/open-primary-ranked-choice-ballot-measure-raises-2-2-million-in-2022-first-quarter.
6. “Disclosures.” Alaskans for Better Elections. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.alaskansforbetterelections.com/disclosures/.
7. Piper, Kelsey. “Alaska Voters Adopt Ranked-Choice Voting in Ballot Initiative.” Vox. November 19, 2020. https://www.vox.com/2020/11/19/21537126/alaska-measure-2-ranked-choice-voting-results.
8. Kosar, Kevin R. “What Is Final Five Voting? A Q&A with Katherine Gehl.” American Enterprise Institute. September 1, 2021. https://www.aei.org/politics-and-public-opinion/election-qa-katherine-gehl-explains-final-five-voting/.
9. Kosar, Kevin R. “What Is Final Five Voting? A Q&A with Katherine Gehl.” American Enterprise Institute. September 1, 2021. https://www.aei.org/politics-and-public-opinion/election-qa-katherine-gehl-explains-final-five-voting/.
10. Hill, Jessica. “Nevada Ballot Question Raises More Money than Any Candidate in 2022 Election.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 20, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/nevada-ballot-question-raises-more-money-than-any-candidate-in-2022-election-2660586/.
11. Hill, Jessica. “Nevada Ballot Question Raises More Money than Any Candidate in 2022 Election.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 20, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/nevada-ballot-question-raises-more-money-than-any-candidate-in-2022-election-2660586/.
12.  “Nevada Voters First Report 3.” Nevada Secretary of State. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.nvsos.gov/SOSCandidateServices/AnonymousAccess/ViewCCEReport.aspx?syn=QAtERuhzKiyEmgQ2h4H1KQ%253d%253d.
13. Hill, Jessica. “All 3 Ballot Questions Approved by Nevada Voters.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. November 14, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/all-3-ballot-questions-approved-by-nevada-voters-2676616/.
14. “Contributions for New Yorkers for Competitive Elections.” NY Open Government. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://uatnyog.ag.ny.gov/NYOG/Campaign_Contribution_Details.jsp?campConDetail=committeeDetails&campConType=New%2BYorkers%2Bfor%2BCompetitive%2BElections.
15. “Home.” Katherine Gehl. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://katherinegehl.com/.
16. Girnus, April Corbin. “Question 3 Is Hated by Many and Funded by Rich Out-of-State Reformers, But…” Nevada Current. October 25, 2022. https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2022/10/25/question-3-is-hated-by-many-and-funded-by-rich-out-of-state-reformers-but/.