While Election Day has come and gone, election results are still being tallied. Many big races are still not finalized, though may be soon. Within hours, we expect to have a clearer idea of who will win the race for the White House. We know now, however, that Democrats have not won a sweeping victory in enough Senate races to dominate both houses of Congress and rather than increasing their majority, as anticipated in the House, Democrats lost a number of seats, making their majority slightly slimmer. There will be a host of new faces in the House and Senate, and NMHC is well-positioned to advocate on behalf of our industry.
Even amid the uncertainty at the federal level, voters in California spoke loud and clear on housing policy. For the second time in as many election cycles, the people of California resoundingly rejected short-sighted rent control ballot measures. This year’s Proposition 21 rejection by—at last count—approximately 20 percentage points is a victory for hardworking Californians who deserve real housing solutions that increase supply and bring costs down, and a signal that voters recognize that rent control is not a serious solution for housing affordability.
NMHC was proud to play a leading role in the effort to defeat the initiatives in both 2018 and 2020. We know that housing affordability challenges will only be solved through collaboration, not by politically charged statewide ballot initiatives.
We also know that state-level legislation will continue to be a priority for the housing industry. This year, political pundits and pollsters predicted that legislative chambers in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas could flip from Republican to Democratic majorities. While votes still need to be counted, it appears most will remain under Republican control.
As we move forward, lawmakers, community leaders and the housing industry need to work together to make housing affordability a genuine priority, especially at a time when home is our safe haven. That’s where our focus will be regardless of the final outcomes of the elections.