“One of the best and most effective ways you can build wealth is through homeownership, and the data has shown time and time again that people of color have not had the same access to federal programs that whites have had. We have an opportunity to do something about that. We should do it with [ARPA] funding. And we should do it now.”

That strong and specific statement was spoken by Republican Governor Charlie Baker who has made closing the racial homeownership gap a focus over the past year. While Baker is justifiably focused on the issue, it is noticeable that he hasn’t had as much success in getting Democrats to join him. A legislature dominated by Democrats reduced his proposed spending on his race-conscious homeownership strategies from $500 million to $180 million when they voted on the first round of American Rescue Plan Act spending.

Last year when Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George battled in the Boston mayor’s race, both women talked a lot about closing the racial homeownership gap. They took notice of the thousands of voters who are flocking to first-time homebuyer classes in Boston and across the state. They endorsed specific solutions. They talked about this issue repeatedly and effectively.

What will our candidates for Governor do this year? Buying a home in Massachusetts has never been harder. Our statewide median home price has topped $500,000 behind just Hawaii and California but without the weather. Last week the Greater Boston Association of Realtors said the median price of a single-family home hit $750,000 in 64 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts. Our wide and persistent racial gap is stubbornly large. Nearly 7 out of 10 white households own their own home in Massachusetts. Just 35 percent of Black, Latinx and Asian households are homeowners in our state.

So why aren’t we hearing more about this from our statewide candidates? Tens of thousands of homebuyers are desperate to buy a home in Massachusetts and finding it increasingly impossible. To be fair, Sonia Chang-Diaz and Danielle Allen have strong language on their websites endorsing closing “…the racial wealth gap and create more opportunities for lower- and middle-income families to build generational wealth through homeownership” [Chang-Diaz] and “…increase down payment assistance for first-time home-buyers, with prioritization on first-generation home-buyers” [Allen]. Maura Healey’s website is not yet built out with an issue section but her announcement video doesn’t mention housing at all.

Why isn’t housing in general and homeownership specifically more of a statewide issue? It could be that many of our statewide candidates play to the voter-rich suburban communities where 8 or 9 out of 10 households are already homeowners and benefit from ever increasing home values. It could be the paucity of representation of elected officials of color in the State House. People of color account for one-third of the residents in Massachusetts, but just 14% of House reps and 7.5% of state senators. It is undeniably a hard issue to solve with the need to build many more homes which will meet with not-in-my-backyard protestations and the necessary infusion of billions of dollars in new investment. Fixing health care or education or transportation is equally daunting, yet those issues seem to get more attention from our elected officials.

We should expect more in Massachusetts. We sit near the bottom of the pack in the United States with our wide racial homeownership gap. The gap will not close itself. In fact, given the inter-generational transfer of wealth that homeownership provides, the gap will get worse unless we take intentional action to close it. The kind of action and leadership that can be provided by a Governor. Or a candidate for Governor.