IRV with no party nominations: Could this system work in the USA?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

How many primaries have hundreds of candidates in them?

The California recall election had 135 names on the ballot.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

How many primaries have hundreds of candidates in them?

The California recall election had 135 names on the ballot.

But that's rare though.  In the California senate race this year, there were only 24 names on the ballot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_California,_2012

Granted, that's still a lot.  But it seems cheaper and easier to just have one IRV election with that many names on the ballot than to have a separate runoff election.

Easier for poll workers perhaps, but not voters.  To make IRV work, you need to keep the number of choices within reason, either by making the ballot requirements stiffer, or by making a partial IRV system that might still lead to runoffs.  (I.e. voters get to number their top five choices.  If no one gets a majority, the top five show up in a runoff.)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

My own personal view on filling legislative vacancies is generally 'Why bother?'  If seats were to remain empty when vacated, then voters would have an incentive to pick people who are both healthy enough to last out their term and able to do their job and likely to actually do their job instead of campaigning for another one.