On or before Tuesday, November 5, 2024, voters from across the country cast their votes in this year’s pivotal election. From local ballots to the presidential campaign trail, housing policy is at the forefront. Here are key insights as of the afternoon of Wednesday, November 6, 2024, and what they mean for the rental housing industry.
Outlook in Washington
Trump Wins White House: The Associated Press (AP) has called the presidential election for former President Donald Trump (R). At the time of this reporting, Trump has carried the state of North Carolina and flipped Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Arizona and Nevada have yet to be called.
Over the past few months on the campaign trail, both major party presidential candidates have made housing – and housing costs specifically – a point of conversation. President-elect Trump outlined the following as key pillars of his housing proposal:
- Help new home buyers by reducing mortgage rates by slashing Inflation and opening limited portions of Federal Lands to allow for new home construction;
- Promote homeownership through Tax Incentives and support for first-time buyers;
- Cut unnecessary regulations that raise housing costs; and
- Ban mortgages for undocumented immigrants and mitigate increases in housing costs due to illegal immigration.
Republicans Take Senate: Republicans will also take back control of the U.S. Senate in the 119th Congress, flipping seats in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia. Races are yet to be called in several states, including Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
NAA's Take: This change in control also means change in leadership atop key committees like Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, Finance and Environment and Public Works. Who exactly those new leaders are is still to be determined as some Republican Senators could join the Administration.
House Control Undecided: Control of the U.S. House has yet to be decided, with key races across the country too early or close to call.
NAA's Take: This means we still do not know who will lead key House Committees like Ways and Means, Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce. Some leadership positions will be contested so it may take some time to identify Chair or Ranking Members of some committees.
Deeper Dive: For a more in-depth preliminary analysis of this year’s election results and an outlook for the next Congress, read this preliminary election memo from Porterfield, Fettig and Sears LLC.
Read Preliminary Election Memo
Housing Ballot Measures
Across the country, several localities have housing policy measures on the ballot this year. In total, the National Apartment Association (NAA) is tracking 19 ballot measures in 7 states that would impact policy ranging from rent control to affordable housing and property taxes. View results below.
View NAA's 2024 Ballot Measure Tracker
NAAPAC Supports Industry Champions
The National Apartment Association Political Action Committee (NAAPAC) made critical investments that underscore an unwavering commitment to supporting bipartisan voices that champion the rental housing industry’s legislative priorities.
Strong Results: As of this writing, 210 of 229 federal candidates NAAPAC supported through the general election have won their races, a success rate of 92%. Four candidates have lost thus far and 15 races are still to be called.
Key actions this cycle include:
- Digital advertisements for Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.-5)
- Radio advertisements for Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas-34)
- Digital advertisements for Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.-2)
At the time of this reporting, Rep. Bacon leads by 8 percentage points with 99% reporting and Rep. Gonzalez is up 2.5 percentage points with 99% reporting. Rep. Chavez-DeRemer is down about 7,000 votes, but with only 70% reporting. Very early research indicates that most of the outstanding vote is in Jefferson Country, a rural district east of the Cascade Mountains. It is not yet clear how many votes are outstanding there, but the margin may be too steep for Chavez-DeRemer.
What’s Next
The National Apartment Association (NAA) will continue to closely monitor the election results over the days and weeks ahead. As always, NAA continues our robust efforts to advocate on behalf of its members against damaging policies like rent control and instead for sustainable solutions to our nation’s affordability challenges. For more information, check out NAA’s policy priorities. Check back on this page for updates as they become available.