Top California Democrats come out against rent control ballot measure

A pair of top California Democrats and powerful unions are lining up against a ballot initiative on a topic that their party and labor has long championed: removing rent control limits.

State Sen. Toni Atkins, the former Democratic leader in the Senate, as well as Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks confirmed to POLITICO that they are firmly against the November ballot measure. The initiative, bankrolled by AIDS Healthcare Foundation president and political provocateur Michael Weinstein, seeks to repeal a state law barring cities across the Golden State from rent-controlling newer apartments. Two of the state’s largest construction unions, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Norcal Carpenters Union, are also against the initiative.

Those players are fighting the rent-control effort because, they argue, the ballot initiative contains a “Trojan horse” provision. They say it would undermine pro-housing laws by allowing wealthy coastal cities that oppose new development to impose steep affordability requirements that would effectively freeze growth.

Atkins, considered to be a leading contender for governor in 2026, said the measure is “as deceptive as it is dangerous,” arguing it should be removed from the ballot.

“Conspiring with wealthy cities to undermine vital state housing laws is bad enough,” said Atkins, who’s carried several landmark bills to streamline housing construction. “Lying to voters about it is even worse.”

The measure has created strange bedfellows across the aisle. It has drawn support from Republican city officials who’ve fought state housing mandates — and opposition from Democrats who say local governments must be forced to allow new construction to alleviate a housing shortage.

Weinstein’s campaign, dubbed the “Justice for Renters Act,” disputes the argument that the rent-control measure would allow cities to circumvent state laws, calling the complaint a distraction from an effort meant to alleviate rising rental prices.

The initiative is Weinstein’s third attempt to lift statewide rent-control limits in California. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit leader’s efforts have made him a target of a landlord trade group, the California Apartment Association, which is bankrolling a different ballot initiative designed to curb his influence.

But even though Weinstein disputes the notion that his measure could block housing construction, some Republicans are backing it for precisely that reason.

Huntington Beach Councilmember Tony Strickland, a conservative Republican, announced in March that he would support Weinstein’s measure. He has led the city’s efforts to fight Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta in court over California’s housing targets for the wealthy coastal enclave.

“Statewide rent control is a ludicrous idea, but the measure’s language goes further,” Strickland said at the time. “It gives local governments ironclad protections from the state’s housing policy and therefore overreaching enforcement.”

That blunt assessment from a Republican nudged Atkins and Wicks to come out against the measure, the opposition campaign confirmed. The pair didn’t take a stance on a similar 2020 ballot initiative that failed.

“Make no mistake about it: This ballot measure will end housing production in California full stop,” said Wicks, who has championed tenant protections as well as laws to make it easier for developers to build more housing.

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