As young Americans face the prospect of renting indefinitely, more tenants are seeking political clout. In Mid Michigan, voter frustration about the high cost of rent has helped propel William Lawrence into a rare position: Polls show the affordable-housing advocate and Democratic candidate running for U.S. Congress has a strong shot at unseating a Republican member of the House of Representatives in one of the most purple districts in the country.
Lawrence, 36, made a career of activism before running for office as a progressive candidate. He co-founded Sunrise Movement, a youth climate-change initiative a decade ago. But when rents spiked after the pandemic, the East Lansing native watched longtime friends in the area move out of town.
In some cases, their landlords were demanding 30% more. Seeing young adults trying to afford housing turned his focus to the high cost of rent, a problem that impacted their overall financial well-being. Lawrence began local advocacy for affordable housing through the Michigan Rent Is Too Damn High Coalition, a tenant union he founded in 2023.
The group tried to push the state legislature to adopt bills aimed at stopping steep rent increases and protecting tenants’ rights to organize. Now, he’s hoping to bring his experience fighting for renters to Congress. I would like to receive updates and special offers from Dow Jones and affiliates.
I can unsubscribe at any time. Housing policy has long prioritized homeownership, with politicians and industry lobbying groups securing federal and state tax breaks, government-backed loan guarantees and subsidies, and favorable zoning policies to help people who own homes. But now, candidates across the country, like Lawrence, are trumpeting their experiences as renters and tenant organizers, fueling an emerging political movement focused on making renting more sustainable.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who promised to freeze rent during his campaign, is the most well-known in this category, and there have been wins for renter-candidates in cities like Cambridge, Mass., and Seattle. In Los Angeles, Nithya Raman, one of the two leading candidates for mayor, is touting her record pushing for renter protections as a city councilperson and vowing to expand them if she’s elected. The political focus on renting isn’t just limited to progressive, urban enclaves.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
