We were pleased to welcome hundreds of leaders to the REALTOR® Party Training Conference in Philadelphia from November 29 to December 1. Attendees committed to lead efforts to Vote, Act, and Invest as we elevate our policy priorities and support REALTOR® champions at all levels of government.
With a new Congress and shifting economic conditions, it’s never been more important to promote, protect, and strengthen the REALTOR® brand.
2022 provided a phenomenal foundation for us to build on in the new year. Here are some of the REALTOR® Party’s top accomplishments:
Community outreach
With the help of community outreach grants and funding resources, 424 state and local REALTOR® association requests for support were approved for a variety of community development and fair housing-related advocacy, engagement, and education efforts in 2022, up 26% from 2021.
Of that total, 152 state and local associations requests for support were approved for fair housing-related initiatives, from housing curriculum development to specialized training sessions to community forums. Additionally, 82 housing opportunity grants were approved to support activities to address affordability issues in communities or states.
We also launched a revised Transforming Neighborhoods program in partnership with the Counselors of Real Estate® Consulting Corps. After a competitive application and selection process, three local associations and their public and private stakeholders are working with CRE to tackle housing supply and commercial disinvestment issues.
Many state and local associations also took advantage of our online virtual planning sessions to brainstorm the best ways to use these grants. In total, 137 associations have signed up for one-on-one planning sessions via Zoom.
Campaign services
In 2022, the REALTOR® Party awarded 60 issues mobilization grants to 47 associations – 15 state and 32 local – totaling more than $7 million. Sixteen of these associations had never received an issues mobilization grant before this year. In all, grants were distributed in 26 states and one territory.
Of the 60 grants awarded, 27 were used for ballot initiatives – with a 66% win rate – while 33 went toward legislative advocacy. Campaigns supported by these grants focused on issues ranging from property taxes to rent control to infrastructure.
The state and local independent expenditure program provides each state with funds they can use to support candidates who support REALTORS® and the real estate industry. In 2022, the REALTOR® Party supported 501 REALTOR® champions running for state and local office. Those candidates currently have a 73% win rate with several races still to be called.
RPAC
2022 was another record-breaking year for RPAC. As of November 30, we’ve raised more than $48 million for RPAC at all three levels of the association, representing 107% of our yearly goal. We’ve hit a record 38% national participation rate and have 12,178 Major Investors (112% of our goal) and 1,932 President’s Circle members (178% of our goal!).
Thanks to our members’ commitment to RPAC, we also had incredible success in the midterm elections. In addition to the state and local victories outlined above, RPAC-supported federal candidates had a 97.8% win rate.
Our opportunity race program, which sends political communications to members to support targeted federal candidates, engaged in a record-breaking 100 races with a 94% win rate. Our federal independent expenditures program, which supported 11 REALTOR champions running for federal office, had a 91% win rate. Additionally, our 2021-2022 President’s Circle targets had a 93% win rate.
The REALTOR® Party has a lot to be proud of, but we won’t rest on these accomplishments. We will carry this momentum into next year as we continue to advocate for housing supply and affordability, adaptive reuse of commercial real estate, emerging technologies, and rental housing issues – just to name a few.
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