Voters in California are being asked to “stand with Kamala Harris” by those who are advocating for a housing cost control measure.
Is it the sole issue? In fact, Harris has not given her endorsement to the ballot initiative.
The new commercial, which will be airing next week on television and was uploaded to YouTube by the Yes on Proposition 33 campaign, is the most recent development in a long-running fight for affordable housing in the state where the Democratic nominee was born and raised. The story reveals that a big California issue is now on the national table because to Harris’ rise to power, and that political parties in her home state are trying to take advantage of this.
Political provocateur Michael Weinstein of Los Angeles and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation he heads are in the forefront of the pro-Prop 33 movement. He’s been trying to get a statewide rent control proposal passed for three times now, giving municipalities more authority to regulate housing prices. Weinstein is also fighting against Proposition 34, which is an attempt by his detractors to limit the funding and influence of his charity.
The ad heavily borrows from Harris’ speech last month in Atlanta, where she pledged to “take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.” The narrator, who is heard speaking over clips of ordinary people and footage of her campaign trail, declares in the captions that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and she are “fighting back.”
After HEADLINESFOREVER asked about it on Thursday, nearly half a day after it was initially posted, the original version was removed. It was released accidentally, according to the campaign.
To clarify, “Use of Kamala Harris’ likeness and words does not imply endorsement.” The campaign subsequently released what it claimed to be the ad’s final version.
When asked about the advertisement, Weinstein said it just restates Harris’ support for specific housing policy.
It is absolutely not the case that Kamala Harris has supported Proposition 33, according to Weinstein. “Our position is crystal clear: Kamala Harris is a rent-control advocate.”
This isn’t, however, Harris’s first appearance in political ads. Following the Atlanta event, proponents of Prop 33 praised Harris for her comments on rent controls, with one user exclaiming on X, “VP Kamala Harris supports rent control!”
The ad urged residents to “vote Yes on 33 this November” to increase rent control in her native state.
The Harris campaign did not allow the use of video for this advertising, according to a spokeswoman for the campaign.
No on Prop 33, spearheaded by the California Apartment Association, had sent a letter to television stations by Thursday afternoon, informing them that the Yes side was trying to disseminate misinformation by making it seem like Harris was in favor of the initiative.
“Exactly the kind of bald-faced lie — and subsequent clumsy cover up — you would expect from a campaign spearheaded by Donald Trump’s former chief of staff,” Nathan Click, who is a campaign spokesman, did not say anything in a statement.
Actum, a consulting business co-founded by Mick Mulvaney, who was acting chief of staff under Trump, and co-chaired by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, was hired last month by the Prop 33 campaign. Weinstein has skillfully countered allegations of ties to the Trump world by highlighting the numerous endorsements of the campaign from prominent Democratic figures, such as Bernie Sanders and the California Democratic Party.
With Harris at the head of the ticket, housing issues—always a hot topic in California—have reached a wider audience. At the Democratic National Convention, YIMBY (yes in my backyard) supporters applauded the vice president for his promise to “end America’s housing shortage.”
They were less thrilled to see some of her campaign remarks appear in the 30-second ad supporting Prop 33 — a measure they regard as a Trojan Horse for undoing some of California’s most critical housing legislation. Housing development, which Harris has emphasized as essential to cost reduction, will be restricted by the bill, according to Laura Foote, executive director of the Bay Area nonprofit YIMBY Action.
At least three million new houses must be constructed, as Kamala has made it quite apparent. According to her, Prop 33 would hinder the achievement of that objective. The advertisement is obviously deceiving.