In this virtual roundtable conversation, recorded on April 20, 2025, a mixed panel of housing researchers and policy makers discuss the unique obstacles to effective housing production in blue trifectas.
The panelists emphasize that in the absence of a credible electoral threat from Republicans, Democratic lawmakers in blue trifectas (i.e., states where Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of state legislature) have less incentive to work together to pass and implement effective policy to maintain and build voter support. Additionally, the lack of electoral competitiveness in general elections may increase the influence of interest groups, which often play an important role in low-turnout primaries. They also touch on the failure of coalition-making.
One bright spot may be New York City, where supply-oriented advocates were able to broaden their coalition by emphasizing the ways that wealthier parts of the city misuse zoning to exclude minorities and push new development to poorer parts of the city. This framing helped build a coalition of 120 groups, including many that generally focus on tenant protections, which supports recent upzoning reforms. Unfortunately, the success of advocates in NYC has not yet been replicated at the state level. S
imilarly, the panel also suggests a clear contrast between the relative success of Washington State in navigating coalitional challenges to pursue effective housing production policy and California’s general failure to do so. In Washington, Democrats successfully assembled including environmental groups, labor unions, and equity groups, to work together on pro-supply policy.
These variations suggests there is nothing pre-ordained about policy and governance struggles in blue trifectas, and that there are lots of opportunities for Democrats to improve policy and governance in the states where they hold majorities.
Panelists
Alex Brennan, Executive Director, Futurewise
Annemarie Gray, Executive Director, Open NY
Christopher S. Elmendorf, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law
Libby Murphy, Director of Policy, Minnesota Housing Partnership
David Schleicher, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law, Yale Law School
Moderator
Jacob S. Hacker, Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University