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What does an insurance commissioner do?
California’s insurance commissioner regulates the nation’s largest property and casualty insurance market — including homeowners and auto — which has been in distress for the past few years as wildfire risk has grown and insurers pulled back from writing policies. The availability of affordable insurance affects homeowners, businesses, landlords and renters, local communities and the state’s economy. Whoever is elected will have the “second-hardest job in the state behind the governor,” said one former commissioner.
California’s 2026 midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Get general information about the election, news coverage, an interactive ballot guide and results on election day.
The candidates
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| Ben Allen |
- Party: Democratic
- Professional background:
- Current state senator who will be termed out of the Legislature, where he has worked on environmental issues
- Lawyer
| Jane Kim |
- Party: Democrat
- Professional background:
- Lawyer
- Consumer advocate
- Former San Francisco supervisor
- California Director for the Working Families Party
The issues
- Allen said mitigation at the home and community levels should help make neighborhoods more resilient, thus reducing risk and improving insurability.
- Kim wants to improve home insurance availability by tying it to insurance companies’ ability to sell auto insurance in the state.
- Allen said expanding eligibility for a low-cost insurance program to everyone could hurt the low-income drivers who really need it.
- Kim wants to expand a state program that allows low-income drivers to get low-cost insurance to every California driver.
- Allen would require insurers to provide real-time reports of delays and outstanding claims after a disaster and to explain claim denials. He would add staff to handle complaints and appoint a consumer advocate in the insurance department.
- Kim would pursue a way to freeze rates when a policyholder files a claim and penalize insurers for delaying claims. She would create a public dashboard that shows insurers’ records on claims.
- Allen touts writing Proposition 4, the climate bond measure approved by voters in 2024. He supports holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in climate change and increased wildfire risk.
- Insurance companies should disclose how they spend policyholders’ premiums, including whether they financially support the fossil fuel industry, Kim said.
- Allen would involve local and state officials, firefighters, builders and the insurance industry in thinking about development, including by avoiding building in areas of high fire risk and encouraging people to move away from such areas.
- Kim said while the state needs to move away from building in high-risk areas, it’s inevitable that additional areas will eventually be considered high risk.
- Allen wants to increase oversight of the last-resort fire insurance provider and make it more accountable to the insurance department.
- “Natural disaster insurance for all” would reduce the need for the FAIR Plan, though Kim said it will still be important to have an insurer of last resort. The plan needs to be more accountable, she said.
