Thanks to a campaign led by the California Apartment Association, voters have once again rejected a statewide proposition that would have brought extreme rent control policies back to California.

As of early December, with nearly 15 million ballots tallied, 60% of voters opposed the measure, while 40% supported it. The final results will be available when the election is certified on Dec. 13.

Officially known as the “Justice for Renters Act,” Proposition 33 marked the third attempt by Michael Weinstein and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and impose the radical rent control policies that proliferated during the 1970s and 1980s.

If passed, Proposition 33 would have allowed cities and counties to impose rent caps on nearly all types of housing, including single-family homes and newly constructed apartments. It would also have reinstated vacancy controls, keeping rent restrictions in place even during tenant turnover.

“It’s time for Michael Weinstein and AHF to abandon efforts to trick Californians into backing their radical anti-housing agenda,” said Tom Bannon, chief executive officer of CAA.

CAA and its campaign committee, Californians for Responsible Housing, argued that repealing California’s foundational rental housing law would discourage rental housing construction and drive housing providers out of the market.

The California State Council of Laborers, the state’s largest construction trade union, opposed Proposition 33, citing its potential to harm housing development and construction jobs.

Major newspapers across California, including the editorial boards of the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Sacramento Bee, similarly warned that the measure would exacerbate the state’s housing crisis.

Bannon underscored the cost of AHF’s campaign to taxpayers.

“With all of the public money Michael Weinstein has wasted on his latest crusade to stop new affordable housing, AHF could have purchased more than 820,000 monthly doses of generic PrEP, paid the rent for 15,000 California households for a year, or repaired hundreds of times over its broken open elevator shaft in one of its many dilapidated properties, where low-income residents live in squalor,” Bannon said.

A broad coalition of organizations and public officials also came out against Proposition 33. Notable opponents included the California Association of Realtors, San Francico Apartment Association, California Chamber of Commerce, NAACP California/Hawaii State Conference, California Council for Affordable Housing, and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, prominent public figures such as Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho voiced their opposition.

Proposition 33 followed in the footsteps of previous failed rent control measures, including Propositions 21 in 2020 and 10 in 2018, both backed by Weinstein and AHF.

Bannon reaffirmed CAA’s commitment to fighting similar proposals in the future, saying, “We look forward to continuing our work with state and local officials to help solve California’s housing crisis and make housing more accessible and affordable for all Californians.”