The nation’s largest trade association is quietly changing the way it goes about trying to influence the laws that affect real estate and the people who make them.
Rather than simply attempting to buy votes by contributing directly to political campaigns, the National Association of Realtors is mobilizing an unprecedented grassroots effort to involve as many of its 750,000 members as possible in national, state and local elections.
Among other things, NAR is training its constituents how to organize political campaigns, put together media blitzes and operate telephone banks to turn out the vote on such important local issues as taxes, impact fees, rent control and growth restrictions.
This is not to say NAR will no longer donate funds to candidates who support its views. Even with the prospect of campaign finance reform looming on the horizon here in the nation’s capital, that may never happen. But the association plans to spend its money more wisely.
Nor is it to imply that members rarely become involved in politics. Many have been extremely active, and some have even run for office-and won.
But the association, which has consistently raised more money for its political action committee than practically any other trade organization and has one of the largest government affairs staffs of any such group, has decided its members can have more of an impact than their dollars.
“If your ultimate goal is to be effective and get your message across, there is no better way than to get your membership involved,” says Robert Elrod, the Orlando real estate broker who heads NAR this year.
“Sure you’re aware of contributions,” says Elrod, a former office holder himself-he spent two terms each in the Florida House and Senate-“but you are far more cognizant of the people who work on your behalf.”
And the National Association of Realtors is nothing if not people. Although membership is down from 840,000, thanks to the real estate recession in the early 1990s, it is still much larger than all the other housing and housing-related trade groups put together.
“The real strength of our organization is in our membership. They’re out there in every village, hamlet and election district in the country, and they know everybody,” says Steven Driesler, who, as NAR’s chief lobbyist, runs the 50-person government affairs office.
But NAR has more than just numbers. It also has members who are outgoing, gregarious and more than willing to get involved.
Unlike special interests like, say, most doctors or lawyers, who tend to be quick with a check but less than enthusiastic about direct participation, real estate brokers and agents have the special people skills that can make an impact.
“By nature, realtors make good organizers and managers,” says Curry Jameson, a broker from Reno, Nev., who is vice chairman of NAR’s Legislative/Political Forum.
“Political campaigns need people who like to organize and direct,” Curry says. “Politicians recognize this, and they always have a respect for those who helped out in their campaigns.”
In a sense, the shift, which has the attention of a number of other trade groups both within and outside the housing sector, is a recognition that it is becoming far more difficult to raise money to advance realtor public policy objectives.
That fact belies the statistics: The association spends roughly $20 million during every two-year election cycle on political action. Moreover, 30 percent of the membership, the highest percentage ever, contributed to the Realtors Political Action Committee last year.
But lobbyist Driesler says dollars for candidates are getting harder to come by. Real estate brokers and agents are just no longer as willing to donate as much or as often as they used to, he says, mostly because they’re tired of candidates who talk out of both sides of their mouths.
NAR, which prides itself on being “the voice for real estate,” has always done some grassroots campaigning. “Our business directly affects consumers, and political involvement is a way to protect the process of buying houses and home ownership,” says Jameson, the Nevada broker.
But the association wants to do a lot more, says Driesler, “if only because it doesn’t carry the negative perception of direct contributions.”
Another reason for the shift in the way NAR is perusing its objectives is because its membership is demanding a better accounting of how its PAC funds are spent.
“Our members told us they wanted us to be more careful about how we spend our money in the political arena,” says Ed Anderson, the Minneapolis broker who chairs the Realtors Political Action Committee. “They told us we needed to get more bang for our buck, and that’s exactly what we’re now working to do.”
Last fall, after a year-long review of its programs, the NAR leadership sanctioned a number of changes, one of which will mean additional funds to use in state and local races and initiatives.
Currently, 65 percent of the association’s PAC funds are earmarked for local elections and issues. But beginning Jan. 1, states will start receiving 70 percent of the take. Moreover, all funds raised after a state meets its particular “fair share” will be returned to the state.
That money will be used to train members in everything from running political campaigns to getting out the vote. If a key vote is coming up, a member of NAR’s five-person political field staff will be dispatched to teach local affiliates how to generate “spontaneous” grassroots support for the Realtor point-of-view.
And instead of advertising solely in Washington newspapers to get the attention of legislators, the association will run ads in papers serving the districts of key members to make sure they get the message back home.
At the national level, meanwhile, the political action committee is drafting tougher guidelines on contributions to candidates for federal office.
