Prop 21 Election Results

LOS ANGELES, CA — The polls have closed on Proposition 21, and voters rejected the statewide measure to give cities expanded leeway to enact rent control measures.

The Associated Press called the race with Californians voting against the controversial rent control measure. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, 6,290,305 voters (59.4 percent) rejected Prop 21 compared to 4,299,969 (40.6 percent for it).

Check back here for up-to-the minute election results for Prop. 21. Patch has you covered with live election results that will be updated until the last ballot is counted.

Prop. 21, which aimed to tackled the state's affordability crisis, never gained majority support in the polls leading up to election day.

For the second time in two years, Californians were being asked to vote on a rent control measure. They weren’t in the mood for it in 2018, but the authors of Proposition 21 believed they crafted a measure that fits the times.

Proposition 21 essentially sought to expand upon local government’s authority to enact rent control measures, which was dramatically curtailed in 1995 with the passage of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act. That act restricted which properties could be subject to rent control measures and enabled landlords to raise rent to market levels when their tenants moved out. It also barred cities from enacting rent control on homes first occupied after 1995, exempting newer buildings from rent control measures.

Proposition 21 would have allowed cities to establish rent control on properties more than 15 years old and limit rent increases to 15 percent over three years when a new renter moves into the rent-controlled property. Landlords who only own two homes would be exempt from the law.

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Supporters contended that California’s restrictions on rent control are a major part of the state’s affordability crisis and that Prop 21 will bring relief to struggling families. Opponents argued that it will make the state’s affordability crisis worse, hurt property values and compel many property owners to take their rentals off the market or pivot to short-term renting on Airbnb.

The left was split on this measure. Sen. Bernie Sanders and the state Democratic Party favor the measure, but Gov. Gavin Newsom came out against the measure, siding with the California Republican Party.

“I strongly support the Rental Affordability Act," Sanders said in a written release. "This initiative will allow California cities to pass sensible limits on rent increases and protect families, seniors and veterans from skyrocketing rents. I was born and raised in a three-and-a-half room rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, New York. That most minimal form of economic security was crucial for our family, but today that type of economic security does not exist for millions of Americans. That has got to change."

Housing insecurity is exacerbated by the pandemic, making the need for rent controlled housing more dire than ever, said Prop 21 advocates.

"Among the 17 million renters in California, the suffering is unabated. Not only do we see increased homelessness, but the affordability crisis has reached epic proportions with many people paying 50 percent or more of their income to keep a roof over their head,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation told the East Bay Times.

But critics said Prop 21 was a case of good intentions leading to unintended consequences.

“In the past year, California has passed a historic version of statewide rent control – the nation’s strongest rent caps and renter protections in the nation – as well as short-term eviction relief,” Newsom said. “But Proposition 21, like Proposition 10 before it, runs the all-too-real risk of discouraging availability of affordable housing in our state.”

The measure would have introduced uncertainty into the housing market, discourage new building and hurt seniors and small landlords who live off their rental income, Prop 21 opponents argued.

The Prop 21 campaign was among the more costly on the Nov. 3 ballot. Proponents spent more than $20 million to see it passed while opponents shelled out nearly $18 million. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation bankrolled the Yes on 21 campaign, and a hodgepodge of corporations in the apartment industry have funded the opposition, according to Ballotpedia.