Real Estate Roundtable Takes Stand Against Election Votes

The Real Estate Roundtable has announced it is suspending political contributions to members of Congress whose votes attempted to “subvert the validly expressed will of the American people in selecting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the nation’s next president and vice president.”

The roundtable also strongly denounced the planning, acquiescence and participation in the January 6th attacks on the Capitol.

“In the time since this armed insurrection, we have become even more appalled and our anger is amplified by the dismissive reaction of many of our national leaders, beginning with the votes cast by a band of Senators and Representatives who continue to fuel baseless claims of election fraud by refusing to certify the clear results of last November’s election,” the CRE association said in a statement.

Also in the statement, the roundtable said it “firmly backs the Senators and Representatives who put country before party and fulfilled their oaths to uphold the Constitution by certifying the Biden-Harris victory. Furthermore, we implore congressional leadership to allow the members in their caucuses to freely vote their conscience in how to deal with the current president during his waning days in office.”

It is a significant move, to say nothing of strong language, for the typically apolitical organization that works closely with Congress on matters of importance to the commercial real estate industry. But it doesn’t stand alone. Since the invasion of the Capitol last week by insurrectionists, the industry—as well as the larger business community—has not only voiced disgust with what happened but backed those sentiments with hard actions. 

For instance, Cushman & Wakefield told The Washington Post it would no longer work with the Trump Organization, after handling many of its properties for years including office leasing at Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street. “Cushman & Wakefield has made the decision to no longer do business with The Trump Organization,” the company said in a statement to the publication. 

Separately, JLL said it was “no longer doing business” with the Trump Organization now that its listing agreement to market Trump Hotel in Washington had expired, according to Bloomberg. 

Other industry associations have also cast aside their once studiously neutral positions to weigh in on recent events.  “This afternoon’s abhorrent assault on the United States Capitol and on the underpinning institutions of our democracy must come to an end,” Doug Bibby, president of the National Multifamily Housing Council said in a statement on the day of the attack of the Capitol. “NMHC calls on lawmakers to live up to their oaths and certify the results of the 2020 election as soon as they can safely do so.”

CEOs from across corporate America have been speaking out in response to the events of the last week. For instance, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called the riots “an assault on our nation, our democracy, and the will of the American people,” according to a post in the  S&P Market Intelligence.

It may well be that the past week has ushered in a permanent shift for businesses and their participation in US political life. 

“Last week’s events make it clear that expectations of business leaders in times of social unrest are rapidly changing and inaction is less of an option as the environmental, social and governance movement gains traction in the US,” S&P’s Lindsey White wrote. 

Some of this is being driven by employees forcing companies to take a stand, she said, noting that the riots may only accelerate the growing expectation that business leaders step in to comment publicly on political issues.

“I believe that the political class has generally failed us and that business leaders are going to have to speak out at a local level as well as a national level,” Partnership for New York City CEO Kathryn Wylde told White.