California State Senate candidate Brian Goldsmith has some explaining to do…
His nonprofit has direct financial ties to corporate landlord Blackstone Group, which spent millions of dollars to kill pro-rent control measures in California, and he’s taken at least $5,900 in campaign cash from the California Apartment Association – the powerful lobbying group for corporate landlords. But, he wants to represent such rent-stabilized cities as Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills.
So one has to seriously wonder if his loyalties, as a state senator, would go to tenants or Big Real Estate whenever pro-tenant legislation would come before him. State politicians siding with the real estate industry is a major problem in Sacramento.
Goldsmith is the vice president and chief financial officer of the BN Maltz Foundation, a nonprofit based in Beverly Hills that’s helmed by Russell Goldsmith, Brian’s father. The foundation recently delivered a grant of $180,000 to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to a 990 tax form from 2025, and reported to own 46,630 shares of Blackstone stock with a value of more than $1.4 million. That’s big-time cash.
Goldsmith is now running for District 24 of the California State Senate, and he would represent residents in such cities as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and L.A., all of which have rent-stabilization ordinances that protect tenants against outrageous rent hikes.
One would think that Goldsmith would naturally be a strong supporter of rent regulations, but his website tells another story.
On the “Issues/Affordability” page, he makes no mention of rent control or rent stabilization. In fact, there’s not even a mention of the word “rent.” Very odd, but the California Apartment Association and Blackstone, which was co-founded by mega-billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, would be pleased.
Between 2018 and 2024, Blackstone spent millions of dollars in campaign cash to successfully kill three ballot measures – Prop 10 in 2018, Prop 21 in 2020, and Prop 33 in 2024 – that would have repealed or reformed statewide rent control restrictions in California. The California Apartment Association sponsored the main committees that opposed the pro-tenant initiatives.
Blackstone received heavy criticism not only from activists for laying down so much money to stop Prop 10, but also from the United Nations – yes, the U.N.
In 2019, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing Leilani Farha and her colleague, Surya Deva, chided Schwarzman in a letter for “using [Blackstone’s] significant resources and political leverage to undermine domestic laws and policies that would in fact improve access to adequate housing consistent with international human rights law.” That pull-no-punches critique was referring to Prop 10.
But Goldsmith’s connection to Blackstone isn’t the only problem.
A couple of months ago, in June, he took a sizable campaign contribution of $5,900 from the California Apartment Association – the aggressive enforcer for corporate landlords, who fund the CAA’s political advocacy. The CAA is known to use any kind of tactic anywhere in the state to kill any kind of pro-tenant legislation – and delivers campaign cash from corporate landlords to state and local politicians in 51 out of California’s 58 counties.
Taking big bucks from the CAA, especially if you’re hoping to represent cities that are filled with renters, is a big no-no. Either Goldsmith doesn’t understand that or doesn’t care, but either scenario is not good.
Brian Goldsmith’s connections to Blackstone and the California Apartment Association are deeply troubling. What will he tell voters?
(Above picture from Brian Goldsmith website.)
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