Portland voters soundly reject proposal to amend rent control limits
Turnout ebbed and flowed with the rain Tuesday as Portlanders handily rejected "An Act to Amend Rent Control and Tenant Protections" at the polls by a 2-1 margin, 66.5 to 33.3%.
The turnout that led to a final tally — 7,740 to 3,872 — was heaviest when yesterday's downpours subsided and slowed with the rain, warden Carol Morrissette told Mainebiz.
"It was pretty steady," Morrissette said. "It's been an amazingly high turnout for a typical school budget referendum," which also passed resoundingly by a margin of 2-1.
The question was spearheaded by the Southern Maine Landlord Association, rebranded as the Rental Housing Alliance of Southern Maine.
The campaign was an initiative of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America, which led the “No on A” campaign.
Maine Democratic Socialists of America passed the first rent control law in Maine in 2020 by ballot initiative and passed further rent stabilization last year at the ballot box. The 2022 law, passed by 55% of Portland voters, established a maximum 5% increase in the amount a landlord can impose on a new tenant after a previous tenant leaves voluntarily. The law also banned application fees and large deposits and required landlords to provide a 90-day notice to terminate a lease.
Question A proposed that landlords would be able to increase rents as much as they desired after a voluntary vacancy.
The “Yes on A” campaign was led by the Rental Housing Alliance and an affiliated political group, the Committee to Improve Rent Control, with contributions from the Greater Portland Board of Realtors.
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