Socialist Candidates Are on the Rise—With a New, Pro-Building Platform for the Housing Crisis

D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George has admitted she used to be skeptical of the very homebuilding agenda she now champions. But the reality, she said, is visible in other cities that adding more housing works."Increasing supply, paired with policies to protect residents, really is critical to stopping further displacement and making housing more affordable for all," Lewis George wrote in a local op ed earlier this year.Lewis George, who is likely D.C.'s next mayor after winning the Democratic primary this year, beat another Democrat with his own pro-homebuilding platform. But while the city has for years tried to build more housing, it has long focused its efforts on affordable units. Meanwhile, many progressives argued the idea of a general housing shortage was a ruse dreamed up by profit-hungry developers."When I was first elected to the DC Council, I myself was skeptical of this," she wrote. "And I wasn’t certain about the role private development should play in making housing more affordable. I saw cranes everywhere, but I knew so many people struggling to afford their rent."Her campaign referred further questions about her positions on housing to the article.With the ...