At a CNN Town Hall on April 11, 2019, former HUD Secretary and 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro called for a strong investment in affordable housing. “I bet you that if we went through the debate transcripts of the last 40 or 50 years,” said Mr. Castro, “Democrat and Republican debates, that we wouldn't see one question that was about housing, even though today, in big cities and small towns, there is an affordability crisis.”
Mr. Castro’s comments ring true. In recent memory, affordable housing has not been a top campaign issue of presidential candidates. But that is changing. Several major presidential candidates, including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and others have talked about affordable housing on national platforms, which shows that the momentum for increasing affordable housing investments is growing.
When candidates are asked questions about affordable housing, they publicly commit to addressing the crisis and finding real solutions. At an April 14, 2019 CNN Town Hall, presidential candidate Andrew Yang said, “[Affordable housing’s] a problem that American communities are struggling with around the country…. So there's a lot we need to do. Certainly, as president, I would invest in trying to increase the supply of affordable housing.”
The vast majority of the public — a full 85% — believe that ensuring everyone has a safe, decent, affordable place to live should be a “top national priority,” according to a recent national poll commissioned by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign. Eighty-two percent of the public thinks it’s important for elected leaders to address housing affordability. With the cost of rental housing squeezing people in every community across the country, every major presidential candidate should make affordable housing a top campaign issue.
Watch NLIHC’s updated compilation video of presidential candidates talking about affordable housing at: https://youtu.be/gvnE8T9fh30