Rent control campaign releases television ad warning governor, “The Rent is Too Damn High.”
SACRAMENTO (November 24, 2023) – The Justice for Renters campaign has released a new cable TV ad targeting California Governor Gavin Newsom on the affordable housing crisis and sky-high rents across the state.
The 15-second spot is running on CNN and MSNBC from November 22 through November 28. In it, several Californians pointedly state “The rent is too damn high” while the screen shows 171,000 Californians are homeless and average rent is $2,895. The last tenant in the spot then asks, “Governor Newsom, what are you doing to lower my rent?”
The cable ad buy follows a full-page advertisement in the Sacramento Bee which first appeared Sunday, November 19th and will run again Sunday, November 26th. Also posted on social media, “An Open Letter to Gavin Newsom” urges the governor not to oppose rent control as voters will have the chance to support it on the November 2024 ballot.
A recent PPIC poll shows 62% of likely California voters favor “a policy that would expand local government’s authority to enact rent control on residential property,” and 55% support allowing local governments to enact rent control.
On October 25, 2023, the Justice for Renters coalition delivered more than 732,000 letters – filling 250 boxes – to Governor Newsom asking that he support, or at least not oppose, the 2024 California rent control ballot initiative.
Newsom’s office responded by directing reporters to the spokesman for the anti-renter California Apartment Association (CAA) who also serves as spokesman for the governor’s campaign.
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