How We Can Win Back Our Rent Laws
A history and analysis of how our rent laws were weakened in the last 15 years (1993-2008), and how we can win back what we have lost

Tenants 30, Bruno 32 - Tenants help Democrats take seat held by Republicans for 128 years

In a stunning upset in one of the most reliably Republican districts in the state, a caravan of Tenants PAC volunteers traveled to Oswego County the weekend before the February 26th special election, and spent four days including election day working on the ground to recruit and then get out the vote for Mr. Aubertine. The seven volunteers came home wet (from a very wet snow), cold and tired, but jubilant and determined to help the Democrats win even more seats.

Democrat Aubertine's victory was especially impressive because there are 78,454 registered Republican voters to 46,824 Democrats in the district. He beat Republican Assembly Member Will Barclay by a margin of 52.4 to 47.6 percent. The 48th State Senate district includes Oswego County, Jefferson County, and parts of St. Lawrence County north of Syracuse.

For five weeks leading up to the election Tenants PAC volunteers staffed a nightly phone bank for Assembly Member Aubertine, speaking to more than 3,500 voters in Oswego County. Two dozen volunteers made Get Out The Vote calls on election day. Tenants PAC made a $3,000 contribution to the Aubertine campaign.

Both state parties spent staggering sums of money on this election, most of which went to television ads and campaign mailings. This is a good illustration of the need for fundamental campaign finance reform. But Aubertine won for two essential reasons: he was the superior candidate, and his campaign successfully employed old-fashioned retail politics: door knocking, phone banking, and other kinds of grass roots campaign activities involving lots of volunteers.

The Working Families Party deserves a good deal of credit for this victory. WFP sent dozens of paid canvassers into the district who spent week after week knocking on doors to identify Aubertine voters.

Darrel Aubertine owns a dairy farm in Cape Vincent, which he operates with the help of his family. He campaigned on economic issues that voters in the 48th SSD are concerned about: the loss of jobs, unaffordable health care, the need for economic development.

Barclay's campaign seemed predicated on the theory that his family history entitled him to the Senate seat. The Barclay family has been prominent in the district for 200 years, and the Assemblyman's father, Douglas Barclay, held the Senate seat from 1965 to 1984. Will Barclay is a partner in his father's Syracuse law firm, Hiscock and Barclay . A dispute over fishing rights on the portion of the Salmon River that runs through the Barclay Estate became an issue in the campaign and reinforced the image of the family as aristocratic and aloof.

The special election was triggered by the resignation of incumbent Senator James Wright, who held the seat since 1992. Wright gave up his Senate seat to become a lobbyist for energy companies.

Senator Aubertine must run again in November, in the general election. After conceding the election, Barclay told supporters that he had not made up his mind whether to challenge Aubertine for the Senate seat in the fall. To do that, Barclay would have to give up his Assembly seat.

The mainstream media from outside the district covered the campaign as if the 48th SSD were some remote backwater, inevitably describing it as "snow-covered." The influx of Republican and Democratic volunteers from Albany, New York City and other parts of the state led some local commentators to complain that the outsiders treated local citizens as country rubes.

But in fact, the Tenants PAC volunteers found the residents of the City of Oswego to be friendly, interested in our views, and interested in the campaign. Barclay supporters that we encountered in restaurants and on street corners (where we were both holding up campaign posters in "visibility" efforts) were pleasant and seriously engaged in politics and issues. The interchange with the citizens of Oswego was gratifying.

This victory gives Joe Bruno the narrowest of margins -- one seat. One more loss by the Republicans and the senate will be tied 31 Democrats to 31 Republicans with Democratic Lieutenant Governor David Paterson (who presides over the Senate) casting tie-breaking votes. And there is always November. Because this is a Presidential year, there will be a huge turnout, always good for Democrats. It is possible that the Democrats could pick up several State Senate seats in November, giving them a clear majority.

Tenants PAC endorses Joe Addabbo for State Senate in the 15th State Senate District in Western Queens
See Endorsements for details.

Tenants launch campaign to win stronger rent laws by helping the Democrats capture the New York State Senate.

New strategic plan published by Tenants PAC.

OCTOBER 2007: The tenant movement in New York City and suburban counties is gearing up for a major new campaign to win stronger rent and eviction protection laws.

To have any chance of winning our legislative goals, tenants must help the Democrats take control of the New York State Senate in 2008.

A Democratic takeover of the Senate will mean that for the first time in more than 25 years, we will have the opportunity to enact strong pro-tenant laws ñ for starters, to undo the gutting of our rent laws we have suffered under the Republicans in Albany.

Tenants PAC has published a strategic plan, a proposed road map for 2008 and 2009, dealing both with elections and lobbying, written by Michael McKee, Tenants PAC treasurer.

The statewide election, on November 4, 2008, might seem a long way off. In fact, on the political calendar it is right now ñ and now is the time to prepare.

For some months now Tenants PAC has been planning our strategy for this crucial election, researching State Senate districts where the tenant vote can make a difference. We have identified three, possibly four, target districts that have significant numbers of tenant voters, and strong Democratic candidates lining up to run.

The Senate Republicans are scared ñ and they should be. Two more seats and they become the minority.

Think back just three years. The Republicans had a seven-seat margin. But in November 2004, Tenants PAC helped elect three Democrats. Last year Tenants PAC, and tenants, played a central role in electing Andrea Stewart-Cousins in Westchester County, shrinking the Republican margin to three seats. In the special election in Nassau County last February, we helped elect Democrat Craig Johnson, bringing the margin down to just two.

And now the Republicans are on the verge of losing the State Senate, and with it, the stranglehold theyíve held over pro-tenant legislation and a host of progressive causes.

We have steadily whittled down the Republican Senate majority without any paid staff (everyone involved with Tenants PAC is a volunteer). Our weapons are tenant volunteers and tenant money.

Tenants PAC needs to raise $175,000 to help elect our candidates in November 2008. We will use these funds to make direct contributions to their campaigns and for mailings to tenants in the targeted districts.

This might seem like a lot of money, but it is a tiny fraction of what the real estate industry will spend to defend their Republican friends. We know we canít match the landlords ñ but we need to be competitive.    

Our role in the election victories of the last few years has been very much noticed by the establishment. And thatís important, because politicians take tenants more seriously when they see us exercise our power at the ballot box.

It is essential that we show our friends, the Democrats in both houses, that we can be more than bit players in the 2008 election. The Senate Democrats need to be keenly aware that tenants are a central part of their winning coalition, to lessen the chances of their back-pedaling on our issues once they become the majority. It is just a matter of time before the landlords start giving carloads of campaign cash to the Senate Democrats ― these guys hedge their bets ― and we must make sure that our friends remain strong supporters of our program. Up to now, Senate Democrats have not been recipients of landlord largesse.

The Assembly Democrats give lip service to our goals. But for most of them this is posturing, as they are afraid to pressure their leader, Speaker Sheldon Silver, to persuade him to apply real leverage to force the Senate to pass tenant bills. Instead, the Assembly passes a bunch of ìone-houseî bills every year to strengthen tenant protections ― bills they know will die in the other house.

This charade has gone on for too long. It is time for the Assembly Democrats to get serious about tenant legislation.

Democratic members of the Assembly must also be told that we expect them to help elect Senate Democrats ñ contributing and/or raising money, etc. A few do this already, but very few.

Some Democratic Senators are not exactly strong tenant advocates. But there is a critical mass of stalwart pro-tenant legislators in the Senate Democratic conference who can help make sure that the new majority does the right thing.

2008 is our shot at taking the Senate. We cannot blow this opportunity by mounting a half-hearted effort. Tenants must sacrifice time and money to make this happen. This is no time for business as usual.

The stakes are enormously high. This is a huge challenge for the tenant movement, and for every tenant, in every kind of housing. Will tenants rise to the challenge?

For information about how you can get involved in the effort to elect a Democratic-controlled State Senate:

Tenants PAC, 11 Park Place, Suite 814, New York NY 10007, (212) 577-7001. or by electronic mail: action at tenantspac dot org.

To make a financial contribution, make your check payable to Tenants PAC and send it to the above address.

More news...

Tenants help elect Andrea Stewart-Cousins in Westchester County & Craig Johnson in Nassau County

Pro-Tenant Democrat Craig Johnson Wins Special Election for State Senate

Another win for Tenants PAC! Our endorsed candidate, Craig Johnson, beat the Republican candidate decisively in the special election for a New York State Senate seat held on February 6, 2007. Johnson's win means another reduction in the already slim Republican margin of control in that house of the State Legislature.

On a bitterly frigid day ― our fingers are still curled from the cold ― an unusually high number of voters turned out in this district in the northwestern corner of Nassau County. Johnson beat his Republican opponent, Maureen O'Connell, 26,352 to 22,911, a margin of 3,441 votes.

Governor Eliot Spitzer acted to create this vacancy in the 7th State Senate district by appointing ten-year incumbent Republican Senator Michael Balboni as his deputy secretary for homeland security. Spitzer raised money and campaigned vigorously for Johnson.

The district is in northwestern Nassau County, and includes the Town of North Hempstead, as well as the communities of Bellerose, Floral Park, Elmont, Franklin Square, Stewart Manor, and part of Hicksville. Among the municipalities in the district are Great Neck, Manhasset and Port Washington.

There are about 4,000 rent-regulated apartments in the district. In a tight race, tenants proved to be a crucial swing vote.

Before his election to the State Senate Johnson served as a member of the Nassau County Legislature. O'Connell is the Nassau County Clerk and a former member of the State Assembly.

A special election is difficult, especially in the winter. For this contest, there were only five weeks between the announcement of the date and the election itself. In that five week period Tenants PAC recruited dozens of tenants to phone bank and door knock in apartment buildings for Johnson, and raised enough funds from tenants to donate $5,000 to his campaign.

Voters complained of being bombarded with phone calls and mailings. The tenants we were calling were also receiving calls from other groups, often on the same evening. More than 50 tenants volunteered to help Johnson on election day.

Tenants PAC helped elect Craig Johnson to the County Legislature in a special election in 2000 when control of that body was at risk of reverting to the Republicans (there are 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans). Since the Democrats became the majority in the November 1999 election, the County Legislature has replaced pro-landlord members on the Nassau County Rent Guidelines Board (including a well-known NYC landlord lawyer) with members who are more balanced and fair. The result has been lower rent increases for rent-stabilized households. Johnson and his fellow Democrats deserve our thanks.

When she was a member of the State Assembly (1999-2005), Maureen O'Connell consistently voted against tenants. She also received a ton of landlord money in this special election.

 

 

Tenants Help Elect Andrea Stewart-Cousins to Senate