Affordable homes are built as much with votes and ballots as with bricks and drywall: real change happens when voters support pro-affordable housing candidates and policies. In 2018, voters supported a wide range of candidates who made affordable housing priorities in their campaigns as well as many key housing ballot measures. As the 2020 election campaign gets underway, advocates need to mobilize more voters and candidates to support affordable housing, and two recent articles examine housing policies that may be attractive to voters and explores the meaning of the many affordable housing victories won in the 2018 election.
In a recent article in Shelterforce, Rick Jacobus unpacks how to get voters to support more homebuilding in California as part of an affordable housing solution. The thoughtful analysis looks at the economics of homebuilding and urges advocates to identify policies that change who benefits from new developments and to stress that aspect when explaining these policies to voters.
In a separate piece, Randy Shaw underscores the strong and growing support for pro-housing candidates and ballot measures. He contends that recent election results indicate more public support for ending zoning obstacles to new construction and for building more affordable housing that at any time since Congress passed the American Housing Act of 1949. His analysis focuses on the pro-housing candidates who have been elected to office over the past several years as well the multiple successful ballot measures.
The 2020 elections could be a watershed moment in candidate support for affordable housing, with major presidential candidates proposing bold solutions. Leveraging research and the lessons from the past, advocates can help turn out the vote to support a pro-housing agenda.
Learn more about how to get involved with NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes voter and candidate engagement effort at: https://www.ourhomes-ourvotes.org/