Front Lines: 2004 Elections

FRONT LINES: 2004 Elections

BY ROBERT FREEDMAN

REALTOR® Party wins big

NAR helps elect REALTOR®-friendly legislators to U.S. House and Senate.

National elections Nov. 2 produced a big day for the “REALTOR® Party,” with Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., becoming the first REALTOR® elected to the U.S. Senate and most of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®–backed candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate coming out on top.

NAR chalked up major victories on both sides of the aisle. More than two dozen winning candidates received NAR assistance through its Opportunity Race program. The program is NAR’s principal vehicle for providing educational, research, and get-out-the-vote support to REALTORS® at the state and local levels. Of the winners, roughly a third were Democrats. They included Reps. Jim Costa of California, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, and Jim Matheson of Utah. These lawmakers have all been strong supporters of real estate and were the candidates of choice of REALTORS® at the local level, says Al Mansell, 2005 NAR President.

“We can all be happy about our efforts to elect a pro–real estate Congress,” says Mansell.

Isakson, a three-term Congressman from Georgia’s 6th District—the same seat once held by Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich—leveraged an unprecedented amount of financial and logistical help from local, state, and national REALTORS® to win his Senate seat. He carried almost 60 percent of the vote. His Democratic competitor, Rep. Denise Majette, drew 39 percent. “The importance of having a REALTOR® in the U.S. Senate who understands our issues at a gut level cannot be overstated,” says Mansell.

NAR poured more than $2.5 million into grassroots and advocacy effort for Isakson’s primary and general election campaigns, helping influence the public and educate REALTORS® through direct mail, phone calls, and briefings at sales and association meetings. In all those efforts, NAR explained how Isakson has been a champion of key real estate issues.

While in the House, Isakson, a REALTOR® for nearly 30 years and a past director of the Cobb (Ga.) Association of REALTORS®, worked with NAR to keep big banks out of real estate brokerage and management and to end federal roadblocks to the development of contaminated industrial sites known as brownfields. He’s also taken leadership roles on credit score disclosure, quicker tenant leasehold depreciation, and preserving the mortgage interest deduction, among other NAR priorities.

Another NAR victory Nov. 2: Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., a key ally in the fight against big banks entering real estate brokerage and management, retained her House seat against a tough challenger. “Our ability to help re-elect Rep. Northup makes it more certain that Congress will act on a permanent end to the effort by big banks,” Mansell says.

REALTORS® also pulled out all the stops for Republican Reps. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Rick Renzi of Arizona. Burr won the U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina vacated by John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Burr’s opponent, Erskine Bowles, was chief of staff to President Clinton. Renzi, who was re-elected to his House seat, is a former real estate developer who’s been a champion of real estate issues in Congress. In addition to RPAC support, Renzi received more than $50,000 in individual contributions from REALTORS® through the RPAC President’s Circle program.

In all, NAR provided some $13 million in direct and indirect support to more than 450 candidates, including 27 receiving support through the Opportunity Race program, in the two-year election cycle ending with the November elections.

Among other NAR-backed winners:

Democrats: Jim Marshall of Georgia, Timothy Bishop and Steve Israel of New York, Tim Holden of Pennsylvania, and Chet Edwards of Texas.
Republicans: Mike Rogers of Alabama, Rob Simmons of Connecticut, Candice Miller of Michigan, Jon Porter of Nevada, and Heather Wilson of New Mexico.

There were a few election disappointments for NAR-backed candidates. Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga., lost by 4 percentage points to his Democratic challenger. And Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., lost his bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Patty Murray.

Buoyed by the success of its election efforts, NAR heads into the 2005 legislative and regulatory season with substantial strength but facing formidable hurdles. Its top priorities: fashioning a permanent end to the effort by big banks to enter real estate sales and property management and working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure that any reforms to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act balance the interests of all settlement service providers.

Other NAR legislative and regulatory priorities:

Affordable health insurance for small businesses through association health plans (AHPs). AHPs, designed to increase the health insurance options available to association members, would give small businesses increased bargaining power, NAR analysts say. Supporters could see a strong effort in the House, which has passed NAR-backed legislation. The Senate has yet to take up legislation in committee.
A balanced approach to revising oversight of secondary mortgage market entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which provide vital liquidity to the home mortgage finance market.
Rolling back federal preemption of state predatory lending and other banking laws.
Expanding housing opportunity through enactment of a for-sale housing development tax credit, FHA changes, and other measures.
Ensuring responsible implementation of federal do-not-fax, do-not-call, and do-not-e-mail measures.
Maintaining a federal tax system that recognizes the crucial role of homeownership in the prosperity of U.S. citizens.

“One of the main responsibilities of NAR is to keep the REALTOR® family strong by keeping an eye on the federal government so that it allows you to do your job,” Mansell says. “With the success of our REALTOR® Party in the national elections, we’ve taken a significant step toward keeping our ability to do that strong.”

Bush re-election puts focus on tax cuts

Making permanent the tax cuts his administration shepherded through Congress during his first term will be one of the domestic priorities of President George W. Bush in his second term, according to the president’s responses to questions REALTOR® Magazine posed to him during his re-election campaign (“Different roads to growth,” September 2004, page 12). “Permanent tax cuts are critical to maintaining homeownership growth without overheating the market,” he said.

To spur affordable homeownership, Bush is looking to American Dream Downpayment Fund legislation, enacted earlier this year, as a vehicle for increasing minority and low-income homeownership through federal closing cost assistance. He wants to see his proposed single-family housing development tax credit passed to ease the inventory crunch for starter homes.

Bush is a proponent of private property rights but has no plans to upset the autonomy state and local governments wield over land use issues. Thus, he isn’t expected to take a position on municipalities’ increasing use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private owner to another for development of projects such as retail centers. That’s an issue of growing importance to REALTOR® associations at the local level. But Bush does see a federal role in helping to shape community growth. He wants to put money into roads and highways to help close the commuting gap for households that must search far from their jobs to find affordable housing. His plans for transportation include “ready-to-go” projects for easing traffic congestion and improvements to bridges and other infrastructure.

In a key difference with NAR, Bush defended the action by the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency earlier this year to remove federally chartered banks from certain state regulatory controls. On banks in real estate, an NAR priority issue, Bush said he’s adhering to the current congressional prohibition on finalizing a U.S. Treasury Department rule that would allow big banks to enter real estate brokerage and management. Although his administration introduced the rule, Bush has taken no position on whether the rule should go forward.

A robust welcome

City leaders joined the NAR leadership and staff and members of the Washington, D.C., Association of REALTORS® to officially open the doors to NAR’s new Washington building on Oct. 27. At the grand opening, District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams lauded the building’s environmentally friendly design and NAR’s contribution to revitalizing the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Left to right, NAR 2005 First Vice President Pat Vredevoogd, 2005 President-Elect Thomas Stevens, CEO Terry McDermott, 2004 President Walt McDonald, Williams, U.S. House of Representatives Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and NAR Treasurer Mike Brodie.

Retain your membership!

Dec. 31, 2004: The deadline for taking an approved Code of Ethics course required to retain your membership. For info, contact your local association or take the course free online at REALTOR.org/coetraining.