What to Expect in 2015?
2014 Election Results
IN THE STATE OF COLORADO
The Association took great measures in analyzing, discussing and determining which races
to fund in the 2014 election. Through our caucus
and individual candidate contributions, we were
successful in helping to bring back highly sought
balance to the State Capitol. This is great news
for business in general and for the multifamily
housing industry. This year too, we utilized additional resources through participating in coalition polling data. We were able to obtain polling
data which proved to be of high assistance in race
analysis and candidate selection.
Republicans, by a one seat margin, ended the
ten year-long reign of the Democrat controlled
Senate chamber. Republicans are now in control
of the Senate. And, although the margins narrowed, the House of Representatives remains in
Democrat control. The Gubernatorial race was
closer than expected, but Democrat incumbent
John Hickenlooper was successful in retaining
the Governor’s office.
Although the Association had a 94% success
rate on selection of winning candidates, each
election has an element of surprise. In House
Districts 17 and 30 and Senate Districts 19 and
24, the Democrat candidate was predicted to win
due to high Democrat voter registration numbers
and funding, but did not. The opposite occurred
in Senate District 5.
ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL:
THE 114TH CONGRESS
When members return in January,
the GOP will be in control of both the
House and Senate. One of the closely
watched races was the US Senate race
in Colorado. Republican Cory Gardner
www.aamdhq.org
unseated long time Democrat incumbent Mark
Udall by 5 points early on election night.
On the Senate side a familiar face returns to
the Banking Committee. Sen. Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.) and is Chairman once again, after a
hiatus for several years. Importantly for apartment
industry concerns, Mr. Shelby is a veteran of the
GSE wars of a decade ago. That reform effort was
unsuccessful and made essentially moot in 2008
when both enterprises were placed in conservatorship by the federal government. Reform remains
a priority in Congress not only to address Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, but also the future role of
the federal government in the housing finance
system.
Mr. Shelby’s opposite on the House Financial
Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (RTexas), is committed to a total wind-down of the
entities. You may recall his bill, Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (or PATH) Act,
made it out of committee but because it generated so much concern, it stalled and never received
a vote of the full House. While Mr. Shelby was
a strong critic of the GSEs during previous reform
deliberations, it’s uncertain if he is in the same
place as Mr. Hensarling on eliminating the federal role in housing finance altogether. Regardless,
with Republicans leading both committees of
jurisdiction on this issue, the negotiating dynamic will be much different than in the current
Congress.
There is also a change in leadership
on the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee. This is significant
in light of the many environmental proposals coming
out of the Administration, specifically from
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) will take over from
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) a staunch environmental advocate. To say Mr. Inhofe is skeptical of environmen х