These State and Local Elections Will Hinge on Housing Policy—What Voters Need To Know

In this year's midterm elections, housing affordability has emerged as a central flashpoint in three high-profile races: the California gubernatorial contest and the mayoral races in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

At both the state and municipal levels, voters face major structural and economic constraints, from scarce buildable land and a sluggish pace of new construction to restrictive zoning, drawn-out permitting timelines, high inflation, and mortgage rates topping 7%.

On this year's Realtor.com® State-by-State Housing Report Card, part of the Let America Build campaign, California was among six states to earn an F grade because of a dismal housing affordability score. Washington, DC, fared only marginally better, earning a D+.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles ranked dead last on the Realtor.com Metro Report Cards among the 100 largest U.S. cities, posting the lowest combined score measuring both affordability and homebuilding metrics.

Statewide and local candidates appearing on the Nov. 3 ballot have spent months pitching their proposed solutions to the housing crisis.

On the eve of the vote, here is where each of the contenders for these key gubernatorial and mayoral races stands on housing.

California governor's race

Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, and Fox News contributor Steve Hilton, a Republican, are the front-runners vying to replace termed-out California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Xavier Becerra's housing agenda

If elected governor, Becerra pledges to declare a housing-shortage state of emergency on his first day in office and appoint senior staffers across state agencies to tackle the crisis. 

His agenda also includes implementing "shot clocks" to clearly communicate permit wait times to developers, overhauling and lowering impact fees statewide, standardizing and streamlining reviews for modular construction, and simplifying affordable housing financing. 

"California should be a place where the carpenter who builds a home can afford to buy one," he said in a speech this summer. 

According to a new Realtor.com analysis of the latest available housing and American Community Survey data, the typical household in California earns 49% less than the income needed to finance a median-priced home—a shortfall of $98,292—making it the second-most unaffordable state in the nation behind Montana.  

Becerra has voiced support for building "missing-middle" multifamily housing, especially near transit hubs, and expanding first-time homebuyer down payment assistance programs to put homeownership within reach of more renters. 

Fox News commentator Steve Hilton, left, and ex-Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, right, are running to become the next governor of California. (Realtor.com/Getty Images)

On the issue of homelessness and homeless encampments, which has become a lightning rod for political candidates in California this election cycle, Becerra is laser-focused on prevention.

At an event in the East Bay last week, Becerra argued that keeping at-risk people housed after a medical emergency or a sudden job loss is far less costly to the state than rehousing them from the street, reported ABC 7 News (KGO).

"We have to do everything we can to prevent them from falling into homelessness," Becerra said.

His strategy includes bolstering tenant protections, expanding funding to organizations that have proven effective in addressing the homelessness crisis, and holding accountable those who have failed to act.

Steve Hilton's housing agenda

The Donald Trump-endorsed GOP hopeful for governor of California has been aggressively pushing for the clearing of homeless encampments, vowing to rid the state of every single one by Dec. 31, 2027. 

Similarly to his Democratic rival, Hilton has highlighted the need to cut through red tape constraining residential construction, though his approach hinges on capping fees, permits, and regulation costs at $50,000 per new home to make it cheaper for developers to build.

"We have to get rid of the regulations that make it two or three times as expensive to build the exact same home in California as in neighboring states," said Hilton during a televised debate in May. 

His housing platform also includes utilizing over a million vacant lots to build starter homes, and creating 10 new municipalities across California to expand housing supply instead of trying to shoehorn multifamily developments into single-family communities. 

“We have to stop trying to force housing into suburban neighborhoods where people don't want it," he proclaimed during the debate.

Despite their contrasting platforms, Hilton and Becerra are united in their fierce opposition to the California Billionaire Tax, officially known as Proposition 40, which Gov. Newsom had unsuccessfully tried to keep off the ballot.

Championed by a coalition of labor unions, the measure would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on the worldwide assets of more than 200 Californians with a net worth of $1 billion or more who resided in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. 

Opponents of the initiative across the political spectrum have warned that it will accelerate an exodus of high-net-worth residents and tech innovators from California, diminishing the state's tax base. 

Speaking on "The Steve Hilton Show" in January, Hilton criticized Proposition 40 as the epitome of what he called the "stupidity and the failure of 16 years of one-party rule" in California that, if adopted, will "drive business out of state." 

On his part, Becerra dismissed the proposal as a "sketchy policy" and instead threw his support behind an alternative measure that would extend temporary tax rate increases on the ultrawealthy to reliably fund healthcare and public schools.

Los Angeles mayoral race

At the municipal level, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, is seeking reelection for a second term. She is being challenged by L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Karen Bass' housing agenda

Since taking office in 2022, Bass has made fast-tracking affordable housing construction and tackling homelessness the twin pillars of her agenda.

One of Bass' signature initiatives was Executive Directive 1, which streamlined approval for roughly 50,000 units of fully affordable housing. About 6,000 of those units are currently under construction.

In an email to Realtor.com last month, the mayor's office said that under Bass' leadership, the city has carried out a historic rezoning program to create the capacity for half a million new homes and bring more housing to transit corridors and commerical centers.

Since taking office in 2022, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (above) has made fast-tracking affordable housing construction and tackling homelessness the twin pillars of her agenda (Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

"After decades of inaction, Mayor Bass has been laser-focused on slashing red tape and accelerating the building of affordable housing in Los Angeles," a mayor's representative said.

Beyond construction permitting, Bass used her executive power to update the Rent Stabilization Ordinance for the first time in 40 years to lower the maximum allowable annual rent hike from 10% to 1%–4% for rent-controlled units, expanded the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance to convert vacant office buildings and parking lots into housing, and streamlined the building application process.

That last action, according to Bass' camp, was in direct response "to the barriers that applicants, developers, and contractors have identified as impediments to building in L.A."

Bass' plan to solve homelessness is anchored by her Inside Safe program, which clears encampments and moves unhoused people into motels and hotels on a voluntary basis with the goal of helping them secure permanent housing.

Nithya Raman's housing agenda

Councilmember Raman, who is seeking to unseat Bass, has been sharply critical of her record on housing, arguing in a statement to Realtor.com last month that her administration has not done enough to address L.A.’s housing crisis, leaving tens of thousands of residents "struggling to afford rent."

Responding to the Realtor.com Metro Report Cards' findings, that named L.A. the nation’s least affordable large city, Raman said she was not surprised. 

(Los Angeles Times via Getty Images))

"We’ve made it too difficult, time consuming, and costly to build homes in Los Angeles," said the candidate. 

To lower costs, Rama’s platform outlines a plan to triple annual housing production by accelerating permitting through strict "shot clocks" for approvals, overhauling inspections, updating codes, and eliminating additional fees to create more starter homes for working families, and pressuring state lawmakers to pass reforms that wold incentivize developers to build more for-sale homes.  

Citing results in 4th District, where her office recorded a 49% drop in street homelessness, Raman has made a campaign promise to cut the citywide population of unhoused people in half by the 2028 Summer Olympics through rental subsidies and the expansion of low-cost housing.

Raman and Bass share common ground on the issue of L.A.'s controversial Measure ULA, colloquially known as a Mansion Tax, which they both want to see reformed.

Enacted in April 2023, the measure imposes a 4% tax on property sales of $5.4 million to $10.9 million, and a 5.5% tax on sales exceeding $10.9 million. These rates apply on top of Los Angeles' standard 0.45% base real estate transfer tax.

Contrary to its nickname, the tax applies not only to luxury homes but to all real estate priced at over $5.4 million, including apartment buildings.

A recent report from the nonpartisan global policy think tank RAND Corporation found that the tax cost the city over 9,000 new housing units, 16,500 construction jobs, and $452 million in lost revenue.

Earlier this year, Raman unsuccsefully proposed a ballot measure to exempt newly built multifamily, commercial, and mixed-use buildings from Measure ULA for 15 years, arguing that it was suppressing much-needed housing production.

Washington, DC, mayoral race

In Washington, DC, three candidates are striving to succeed three-term Mayor Muriel Bowser: Janeese Lewis George, a Democratic Socialist and member of the Council of the District of Columbia; Rhonda Hamilton, a veteran and community advocate running as an independent; and Robert L. Gross, representing the DC Statehood Green Party.

Janeese Lewis George's housing agenda

The cornerstone of Lewis George’s platform is the "Homes for All" plan, which includes provisions for rent stabilization, a coordinated affordable housing development system, stricter code enforcement, and expanded down-payment assistance. 

Additional planks in her platform include amending the city’s zoning restrictions to add more homes and mixed-income housing, especially closer to transit lines. 

"Increasing supply, paired with policies to protect residents, really is critical to stopping further displacement and making housing more affordable for all," she wrote in an op-ed. 

The latest ACS numbers from the Census Bureau reflect the urgent need for change. Buyers in DC have to contend with a 25% gap between earned income and the minimum required income to afford a home.

DC mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George is promoting her "Homes for All" plan, aimed at expanding affordable housing. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Her long-term goal is to add 72,000 new housing units throughout DC within five years. 

Lewis George has secured the backing of several pro-housing development groups, but President Trump does not count himself among her supporters. 

Trump said in June that he "wouldn’t like" having Lewis George as mayor and floated the prospect of overseeing a federal takeover of DC. 

"Maybe we’ll take back Washington, run it on a federal basis," he said. "We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses."

Independent candidates' housing agendas

Rhonda Hamilton, who grew up in DC, is focused on building deeply affordable housing and requiring all new residential development to include this type of units. Her other major project aims to audit underperforming agencies, including the Housing Production Trust Fund and the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) waitlist.

Rhonda Hamilton, left, and Richard L. Gross, right, are running to succeed DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. (Rhonda Hamilton 4 DC Mayor 2026/Gross for Mayor)

"We’ve got to do something about the high rents," said Hamilton, per DC News Now. "We’ve got to make sure that our citizens are not being pushed out of the city."

Like L.A., the nation's capital is dealing with high levels of homelessness. Hamilton's agenda looks to put an end to street encampment clear-outs and partner with local churches to temporarily shelter unhoused residents.

Robert Gross, an information technology engineer by trade, wants to harness the power of artificial intelligence to speed up housing approvals and streamline zoning permits as part of his broader agenda to modernize city government. 

Gross’ platform hinges on his "Human Life Standard" framework, which has as its goal to establish green infrastructure standards and reform the housing voucher structure by creating two distinct tracks for families with children and for single, unhoused individuals.