How the candidates running for Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat say they'll solve California's housing crisis

• California voters are casting their ballots for a new US Senator.
• Housing affordability and homelessness are top issues for voters.

California voters have already started mailing their ballots in for the March 5th primary to fill the US Senate seat previously held by Dianne Feinstein.

While Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza crisis dominate headlines coming out of Washington, California voters are more focused on issues closer to home, including the housing affordability crisis and rising homelessness. California has among the worst housing crises in the country, which is one of the reasons why it's home to 30% of the nation's unhoused population and half of all unsheltered people in the country.

Federal lawmakers have historically left housing policy to states and local governments, which control how land is used — through policies like zoning codes — and how buildings are built — through regulations like building and fire codes. But as housing affordability has become an increasingly urgent issue across the country, policymakers in Washington have been forced to weigh in more.

Where the candidates stand

The three Democrats in the race — Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and frontrunner Rep. Adam Schiff — agree on fundamental issues, including expanding affordable housing tax credits and boosting federal subsidies for renters and homebuyers.

The Republican in the race, former professional baseball player Steve Garvey, who's tied in second place with Porter, has been much vaguer about his positions on housing. He's proposed an audit of federal homelessness programs and said he'd support funding mental health and substance abuse programs, as well as affordable housing.

All three Democrats support raising the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to at least $20 per hour, in part as a way to address homelessness. They also believe homelessness is largely a result of the housing shortage.

"The housing affordability crisis is fundamentally a supply problem. We simply do not have enough housing that's affordable, and because of that, we have seen a dramatic rise in people experiencing homelessness," Schiff wrote in his housing policy plan.

Rep. Katie Porter, who's represented south-central Orange County since 2019, has called housing affordability her "top issue" during her Senate campaign.

"The problem is Washington," Porter said during a recent debate. "We have housing policy that is being written by career politicians who cater to their big bank donors."

Porter recently announced a 10-point housing policy plan that includes creating a congressional committee focused specifically on housing, subsidizing the construction of starter homes, and expanding Section 8 housing vouchers to everyone who qualifies.

Some housing experts warn that Porter's focus on subsidizing starter homes disproportionately benefits middle-income, rather than the neediest low-income, Americans.

Schiff, who is leading in polls, has released a plan that would send $100 billion in federal funding to fight homelessness, expand housing vouchers, and boost tax incentives for developers. Schiff and Porter's housing plans are quite similar, experts say.

Lee, who's trailing the other candidates in polling, supports a slew of bills to subsidize federal rental assistance, aid for homebuyers, and affordable housing construction. The congresswoman, who experienced homelessness herself after leaving an abusive relationship as a young mother, supports putting $1 trillion into a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund that would both support both housing supply and demand-side policies.

The top two vote-getters in the March 5 primary will advance to the general election in November.