Issue Positioning Brief
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Topic: Affordable Housing
Candidate: Maya Torres – State Senate (Fictional)
Date: March 2024
Core Message
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Everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to live. Skyrocketing rents and housing shortages are not inevitable — they’re the result of choices made by leaders who protect developers and landlords over working families. I will fight to make housing affordable, accessible, and equitable for every resident in our state.
Three Main Talking Points
1. Build More Affordable Housing — Now.
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Support funding for mixed-income housing projects in both urban and rural areas.
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Streamline permitting for affordable housing developments without weakening safety or environmental standards.
2. Protect Renters from Exploitation.
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Enact caps on annual rent increases to prevent price gouging.
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Strengthen tenant protections against unjust evictions.
3. Use Public Land for Public Good.
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Convert unused state-owned properties into affordable housing units.
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Partner with nonprofits and local governments to keep those units permanently affordable.
Soundbites for Different Contexts
Stump Speech:
“No one should spend more than a third of their income just to keep a roof over their head. Housing is not a privilege — it’s the foundation for every other part of life.”
Debate Stage:
“If my opponent can fast-track permits for luxury condos, they can do the same for affordable housing — they just don’t want to.”
Social Media Post:
“Safe, affordable housing isn’t too much to ask — it’s the bare minimum.”
Opposition Counterpoints & Rebuttals
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Opposition: “Rent control discourages developers from building new housing.”
Rebuttal: “Developers are already choosing luxury over affordability because it’s more profitable. The market alone won’t solve this — we need policy that puts people first.”
Opposition: “The private market should decide housing costs.”
Rebuttal: “If the private market worked, we wouldn’t be in a housing crisis. People are being priced out of their hometowns. That’s not freedom — that’s displacement.”
Call to Action for Surrogates:
When you talk about housing, bring it back to choices — our leaders chose not to act while rents soared. We’re choosing to fight back.