Voters in the city of San Francisco have soundly rejected Proposition F, a measure that would have limited short-term housing rentals to 75 nights a year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The result is a victory for Airbnb Inc., who waged a sophisticated political campaign to defeat the initiative.
The Wall Street Journal adds that Airbnb deployed a veteran field organizer and hundreds of volunteers to defeat Proposition F.
According to the unofficial city election returns, 55 percent of the voters rejected the measure.
The Wall Street Journal adds that the proponents of the measure argue that the measure was needed because short-term rental sites, such as Airbnb, are taking housing units off the market.
The proponents, which include tenants-rights organizations, a group representing landlords, a hotel workers' union, and hotel associations, say that with more housing units off the market, costs of housing are increasing.
The Wall Street Journal adds that the proposition would have authorized the City of San Francisco to fine home-sharing sites for listing apartments that aren't listed on the city as short-term rentals.
The measure would have also allowed neighbors to pursue hosts and companies in lawsuits.
Christopher Nulty, a spokesman for Airbnb, told The Wall Street Journal that the victory is made possible by the "138,000 members of the Airbnb community.
"Tonight, in a decisive victory for the middle class, voters stood up for working families' right to share their homes and opposed an extreme, hotel industry-backed measure," he said. "The effort showed that home sharing is both a community and a movement."
USA Today adds that Airbnb plans to flex its new-found political might that it learned during the battle.
The home-sharing site plans to launch a national campaign and create 100 home-sharing political clubs in 100 U.S. cities in 2016.
Chris Lehane, the global policy chief of Airbnb, told USA Today that the battle at San Francisco informed the company "enormously."
"It's a great lesson and it's also a template for what's to come," he said.
USA Today adds that Lehane said during a news conference that Airbnb is planning to start a campaign to extend local homeowners' support of the service to other cities.
The idea was inspired the Home Sharers Democratic Club, a club created and self-organized by local hosts, who lobbied against Proposition F.
USA Today adds that Airbnb will provide a hotline with dedicated staff at its headquarters for these guilds and clubs.
Lehane adds that the company will also provide "the finest grassroots training" to these clubs.
