CA-IC: Kim (D), Allen (D) lead in California insurance watchdog race
Two Democrats may be duking it out on the November ballot for one of the toughest jobs in the state: insurance commissioner.
Jane Kim, the former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Ben Allen, who’s about to term out of the Legislature, were leading in early returns Tuesday night.
The commissioner is responsible for regulating the nation’s largest property insurance market that includes home and auto, plus health, pet, ride-hailing and life insurance, as well as workers’ compensation.
But the hot topic in the past few years as climate change has caused wildfire risk to rise has been home and fire insurance. The next commissioner will face many challenges that include trying to balance property insurance availability with affordability. Some insurance companies that had stopped renewing policies or writing new ones in the past few years are now taking advantage of new regulations that allow them to use new tools in setting their rates. This generally means premiums will rise as the Insurance Department, headed by the commissioner, is likely to keep approving increases in homeowners’ insurance premiums.
https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-insurance-commissioner-primary/