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The race for the California Insurance Commissioner post has drawn 11 candidates covering several parties, and backgrounds that include two insurance agents, a former broker, a state legislator and a former state legislator.

Addressing the state’s “insurance crisis,” which took on a bigger priority following the devastating January 2025 Los Angles Wildfires, is a loud message coming from most of the field.

All candidates appear on the same ballot in the June 2 primary election, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election on Nov. 3.

Related: California Commissioner Advances Proposal to Overhaul Intervenor Process

Incumbent Democratic Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who is term-limited after serving two terms, has not made known any next steps in his political career.

¾ÅÉ« sought out all the candidates in the race and asked them to answer three questions addressing our insurance professional audience. All replies were received via email from the candidate or the campaign staff. Answers have been lightly edited for brevity, clarity and typos.

Not all candidates responded to multiple requests for comments, though they are on the Secretary of State’s official list as candidates. California elections codes do not let candidates who have filed nomination documents for state offices withdraw those documents, so all candidates will appear on the June 2 primary ballot.

Candidates who are on the list but who did not respond to requests for comment were: Eric Thor Aarnio, R., contractor; Sean Robert Howell, R., cybersecurity CEO; and Sean Lee, R., financial services executive.

Ben Allen, D., state Senator

Allen has served as a member of the California state Senate since 2014. His plans include restoring a competitive insurance market, ensuring people are treated fairly after disasters and building resilient communities.

¾ÅÉ«: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Allen: California’s insurance system is at a crossroads. To restore a solvent, competitive marketplace while keeping rates fair and affordable, we must strike the right balance between protecting consumers and ensuring insurers can sustainably operate in the state.

I will stabilize the insurance market by modernizing rate setting and streamlining rate review timelines so decisions are made within months, not years. I want to keep insurers in California and be able to write policies people can afford.

Related: Public Interest Groups Backing California Homeowners Insurance Bills

I will champion a state-wide fire resilience plan that educates home and business owners about what they can do to safeguard their property. I will expand grants and financing so they can do it. And I will be the leader California needs to execute neighborhood-scale programs that increase community resiliency and bring down insurance rates. My plan for Fire Mitigation Partnerships, , brings together insurers, utilities, local governments and community organizations to pool resources and improve community-scale hardening efforts. We cannot solve this problem in silos. As insurance commissioner, I will direct the big picture.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Allen: The Department of Insurance needs to be more responsive, more transparent and better equipped for the realities of climate risk.

I would make a few immediate changes. First, I would expand our on-the-ground claims support during disasters. Right now, we have roughly three dozen claims specialists statewide. That’s not enough. When communities are hit, the (CDI) should be there in real time, helping people navigate claims and making sure insurers are meeting their obligations.

Second, I would bring more predictability to the rate review process. We need to resolve filings in months, not years, with clear timelines and consistent standards, while maintaining the core consumer protections of Proposition 103.

Third, I support the responsible use of forward-looking catastrophe models, with transparency and strong oversight, so rates better reflect risk.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Allen: When the Palisades Fire hit, it tore through the community where I’ve spent my life. While my home was spared, many friends and neighbors lost everything. I saw firsthand the gaps in coverage and the frustration families faced navigating claims. That experience has shaped how I approach this role.

In the Legislature, I’ve focused on practical reforms and opportunities. I have advanced funding through to harden communities. I have advanced to support home hardening through low-interest financing. I also led major, complex efforts like , a ground-breaking plastic pollution bill which required that I bring together industry, labor, environmental groups, and consumer advocates to get meaningful policy accomplished.

I know that experience will serve me in this role as Insurance Commissioner. This job requires someone who can work with all sides to stabilize the market while protecting consumers.

Steve Bradford, D., education organization board member

Bradford previously served in the California State Senate, the state Assembly and on the Gardena City Council. His plans include addressing transparency in insurance pricing, creating rewards for risk mitigation, addressing insurance availability and fixing the FAIR Plan.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Bradford: Honestly, I’m concerned—and I think the industry is too. Traveling across California, I’ve heard from homeowners who did everything right and still lost coverage, but I’ve also listened to insurers who feel the regulatory framework hasn’t kept pace with the real cost of climate risk. They’re both right.

Since 2019, over 100,000 Californians have lost home insurance, and carriers have exited markets they can no longer price accurately. That’s not a villain story—that’s a broken system that isn’t working for anyone. What I want to build is a framework where accurate risk pricing, market stability, and consumer affordability can coexist. That’s a harder problem than pointing fingers, but it’s the only one worth solving.

IJ: What changes will you make if elected?

Bradford: My focus will be on building a regulatory environment where insurers can operate sustainably and consumers are genuinely protected—because those goals aren’t in conflict.

First, I support modernizing how we assess and price risk. Carriers need to use forward-looking catastrophic modeling that reflects today’s climate reality, and the regulatory process should move at the speed that requires. Second, I’ll push hard for a real risk mitigation credit system—giving insurers the data and confidence to re-enter markets where homeowners and communities have invested in resilience. Reduced risk should mean expanded coverage. Third, I’ll work to stabilize the FAIR Plan so it functions as a true transitional market, not a growing liability. A healthier private market is the goal, and I want to partner with the industry to get there.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates?

Bradford: I approach this office as a problem-solver, not a prosecutor. Traveling the state, I’ve heard from carriers, agents, consumer advocates, and homeowners—and what strikes me is that most of them want the same thing: a market that works. I bring a legislative record on environmental policy and consumer protection, but I also understand that a commissioner who treats the industry as an adversary will accomplish very little.

The real work is creating conditions where insurers can price risk accurately, invest in California with confidence, and still reach the working families and communities that need coverage most. That takes relationship-building, regulatory clarity, and a willingness to make the hard calls—not just the popular ones. That’s the kind of commissioner I intend to be.

Keith Davis, American Independent, insurance agent

Davis spent nearly a decade in the insurance industry, selling and managing everything from auto and homeowners coverage to commercial policies. One of his top issues is addressing the state’s insurance crisis and high premiums and ensuring fair claims handling.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Davis: Over the past four or five years, I feel like California’s insurance market has been heading in the wrong direction. From what I’ve seen, stability and confidence have steadily declined. People aren’t just frustrated anymore, they’re starting to feel uneasy about a system that’s supposed to protect them. It seems like all we’ve heard lately is about carriers leaving the state, stricter guidelines and rising rates.

There really hasn’t been much good news to balance that out. Instead of solutions, people are left with fewer options and higher costs, which is tough on families, homeowners, and small business owners, especially in higher fire risk areas. It’s creating a lot of uncertainty about whether people can even get or keep coverage.

At the end of the day, this path isn’t sustainable. We need real solutions, more transparency, and leadership that’s focused on rebuilding trust and bringing some stability back to the market.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Davis: If elected, one of the first things I’d focus on is taking a hard look at how fireline scores and boundaries are set. Right now, too many areas are labeled high-risk, forcing homeowners to pay higher prices even when their specific situation doesn’t justify it. I think we’ve overreacted in some cases, leading to fewer options and higher costs. We need a fairer and more accurate system so people can actually find and afford coverage.

I also really want to focus on education. Many people don’t fully understand their policies, things like BI/PD limits, 50/100 coverage or loss of use. If we can break that down in a simple way, it helps people make better decisions at renewal.

And I’d like to sit down with carriers to explore premium credits for safe drivers. It may not be easy, but if there’s a way to reward people with clean records and actually lower their premiums, it’s definitely a conversation worth having.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Davis: My direct, boots-on-the-ground experience working in insurance day-in and day-out truly separates me from the other candidates.

I’m not just talking about the industry, I’ve been living it. Even as recently…I was submitting a California Fair Plan policy, pulling MVRs, running reconstruction cost estimates, and helping clients get coverage.

I’ve handled claims, pushed back on adjusters when something didn’t feel right, and helped fix issues like items showing up on an MVR that shouldn’t be there. I’ve written just about every type of policy out there, so I know how this system works from the inside.

I’ve seen what’s broken firsthand, and I’ve had to deal with it alongside my clients. That’s the difference, I’m not watching this from the outside. I’ve been in the middle of it, and I’m here to help fix it and serve the people the right way.

Merritt Farren, R., consumer advocate/attorney

Farren has more than 30 years of experience in business, technology and law. He has held senior roles in several big companies, including Sony Pictures, Disney and Amazon. He wants to bring a technology-centric approach to reinventing insurance regulations, beef up fire protection standards and to eliminate the FAIR Plan.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Farren: It’s a full on disaster—not working for consumers or for insurance companies. It’s also a major contributor to our cost-of-living crisis in California, which is driving people out of our state. We need to strip away the bad body of law and regs that have been built up and introduce a new regulatory scheme that allows good companies that want to serve customers well to innovate, putting tech at the center of their innovation.

I come from two of the world’s most customer-centric companies, Amazon and Disney, that know that companies can do well by doing well by consumers. We need to allow customer-centric insurers to thrive while doing a better job protecting consumers from those who do not put customers first. A tech revolution and simplification of the way insurance contracts are written and offered can do that.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Farren: What changes won’t I make? Our insurance mess was created by elected officials who don’t come from a business background and who haven’t handled tough legal problems in high pressure situations. They have created layer upon layer of laws and regulations that don’t work—that have gotten us where we are today. Ricardo Lara was completely lacking in the necessary expertise to succeed.

I’ll use the skills I learned at Disney, Amazon and Sony Pictures to innovate, taking a stronger lead in using the position’s executive functions to jump in and create clear and immediate results consumers need—and will also get experts together to go line by line in insurance—home, auto, business, workers’ comp, health—to root out the key drivers of increasing insurance cost and to tackle them—to get us all the insurance we need at a price we can afford.

As just one example, I was asked recently by the LA Times what I think about Ricardo Lara’s proposal for standards on smoke damage remediation. My response: Yes, we need those standards, but we needed them 14 months ago. At Amazon or Disney, we would have studied the problem and come out with standards in one week’s time, two weeks max. Not 14 months. My plan is three part: a tech revolution in insurance to bring new players into the market and get consumers the insurance they need; CAL Reinsure plan to eliminate the need for Fair Plan; and greater safety for our communities matched with tackling underlying costs driving insurance costs up.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Farren: I am the only candidate who has the senior level legal experience that should be considered mandatory for this post and the senior level business administration and tech experience that should be considered mandatory for this role. None of the other candidates have either.

I’m also the only candidate who has lived through the loss of a home due to community fire and the only candidate who has actively taken on an insurance company and the department of insurance in a rate increase proceeding. It is simply not realistic to think that someone without that background will be able to solve our insurance crisis, or even make any material progress in doing so. I am also not beholden to any of the insurance interest or big corporate interests that own a number of the other candidates…I have the experience, the purpose and a specific plan to resolve our insurance crisis. We are great innovators in California. We can and should bring that innovation to insurance and be the leaders in insurance reform we can and should be.

Jane Kim, D., attorney/consumer advocate

Kim served on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors from 2011 and 2019. She has also ran for state Senate and for San Francisco mayor. Her plans include providing natural disaster insurance for everyone, ensuring that premiums pay for claims, increasing transparency from insurers and investing in safer homes and communities.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Kim: California’s insurance market is in crisis. Premiums are skyrocketing, insurers are canceling policies, and when Californians actually need to use their coverage, insurers fight their claims every step of the way. Meanwhile, insurance companies posted record profits last year. That market does not work for all Californians.

I also believe the Commissioner’s office has failed to exercise the full extent of its regulatory power. We have the tools to hold insurers accountable by enforcing timely and fair claims handling and requiring transparency about underwriting decisions. These tools have gone largely unused. The result is a market that works for shareholders, not consumers. I intend to change that. California cannot afford a Commissioner who waits for the industry to come to the table voluntarily. We need a regulator who will proactively address the affordability and availability crisis we face today.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Kim: I would turn this under-leveraged office into a watchdog for consumers. My priorities include aggressive enforcement of claims handling, greater transparency around rate justifications and accountability for insurers who deny or delay legitimate claims.

I would also make sure the office has the tools it needs to lead the industry toward a stable insurance market for all Californians. We face increasing risks from climate change and economic instability—risks that are beyond the insurance system’s control. Addressing this will require strong collaboration between regulators, legislators and companies.

I am proposing a Disaster Insurance for All Program. We must stabilize the market—in order to do this, risk must go down. Homes need to be hardened. Communities need defensible infrastructure. Building codes need to reflect reality, not history. Every dollar spent on federal mitigation grants saves six dollars in disaster recovery costs. Updated building codes save $11 for every $1 invested.

A single payer system doesn’t just fix the pricing problem. It can actually make us safer. It turns the insurance system from something that passively reacts to risk into something that actively reduces it.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Kim: I’m the only candidate proposing transformative policy proposals, like Disaster Insurance for All, to actually tackle the scale of our insurance crisis. Disaster Insurance for All would move the state away from the current dynamic where private carriers cherry-pick low-risk customers, raise their rates, and push high-risk properties onto the FAIR Plan. That status quo isn’t sustainable, and no amount of rate approvals will fix it.

Not only am I refusing contributions from insurance companies and their executives—I will not accept contributions from corporate PACs or fossil fuel companies. My opponents are funding their campaigns with corporate PAC money, but I will govern independently from the industry I’m regulating. Californians deserve an Insurance Commissioner dedicated to making insurance affordable and available for all Californians, not to increasing profits for this trillion-dollar industry. My opponents may have closer relationships with the industry, but I have a 12-year track record of taking on powerful institutions and winning.

I look forward to becoming the first woman elected to this office.

Stacy A. Korsgaden, R., insurance agent

Korsgaden has held an active California Insurance license since 1988, and built a full-service insurance agency, servicing nearly 8,000 policies. She plans to restore competition and bring insurers back to California, expand product availability, change the culture of the Department of Insurance to be service focused and crack down on fraud.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Korsgaden: California’s insurance crisis is like nothing we have ever seen in this state. For nearly 40 years, I have helped individuals, families, and small businesses protect what matters most. Today we are facing an all‑systems failure to serve the market because of suffocating regulation and rigid price controls that punish success and drive insurers out.

Another major factor is the refusal of state leaders to aggressively mitigate fire risk and to crack down on crime. These choices, combined with the policies of the Department of Insurance, have made California hostile to insurance companies and left ordinary Californians paying the price

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Korsgaden: I plan to:

1. Conduct a comprehensive audit of the California Department of Insurance to restore transparency, accountability and public trust in how the agency is managed and how decisions are made.
2. Establish a new business division within the Department of Insurance dedicated to helping new and innovative insurance companies enter the California market, so we can fast-track responsible product approvals and expand consumer choice.
3. Work with California’s political, community, and industry leaders to aggressively mitigate wildfire, crime and other catastrophe risks, so that homes and businesses remain insurable and insurance stays available and affordable across the state.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Korsgaden: I am a nationally recognized insurance subject matter expert running for California Insurance Commissioner. I have held an active California Insurance license (#0750748) since 1988, and for more than 37 years I have helped families and small businesses navigate complex insurance policies, devastating losses, and an increasingly broken regulatory system.

Insurance is not theoretical to me, it is personal. I have built my career one client at a time through annual reviews, difficult claims, wildfire losses, and the long process of helping people rebuild their lives and livelihoods. I have navigated the marketplace and worked directly with regulators, experience no other candidate can match. I built a full-service insurance agency from the ground up, servicing nearly 8,000 policies and earning top national recognition for excellence in underwriting, production, and client service.

Patrick Wolff, D., financial analyst

Wolff built an auto and home insurance brokerage in 2001, and over the last 20-plus years, he’s spent time analyzing insurance companies and insurance markets as a financial analyst. His plan is to address the state’s insurance crisis by holding insurance companies accountable, increasing choice and competition, and improving transparency.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

California’s P/C insurance market—particularly homeowners insurance—has been dysfunctional for years due to poor regulation driving away insurance companies. The is starting to change things for the better. However, much more needs to be done. I am committed to carrying forward and strengthening the reforms started under the Sustainable Insurance Strategy.

One particularly important reform that needs to be implemented is the review and approval time for insurance company filings. In other states with a prior approval system, it takes around 60 days for filings to be reviewed and approved. In California it takes 300 days, which is far too long. We need to speed up the review substantially to make it much easier for more insurance companies to come to market with competitive offerings for customers.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Wolff: My plan is organized around three goals: 1. Holding insurance companies accountable; 2. Increasing choice and competition; 3. Improving transparency.

Holding insurance companies accountable is about smart, effective regulation of market conduct to ensure service is fair and customers are empowered. For example, I will publish a report card on every insurance company based on the Market Conduct Annual Statements to tell customers how well each insurance company has performed on claims.

Increasing choice and competition is about making sure the market has robust choice and competition that benefits customers—see my point above about reducing filing reviews. Improving transparency is about holding the Department of Insurance accountable for results. I will publish an annual report telling the people of California how California’s insurance market is performing compared to all other states in terms of pricing, service and availability.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Wolff: This is the first elected office I have ever run for, and if elected Insurance Commissioner, I will not run for any other office. My other Democrat competitors are all professional politicians with no real insurance experience or expertise. By contrast, I have deep insurance experience and expertise. Early in my career, from 2001-2005 I worked at a major bank, where I spent four years building an auto and home insurance brokerage business.

I then spent the last 20 years as a financial analyst, where I analyzed and investing in companies and markets, including insurance. I have analyzed insurance company balance sheets; I have invested directly in insurance companies; I have worked with insurance company customers and overseen the marketing operations of a multi-company insurance brokerage with national scope. My campaign is based on the radical idea that California’s chief insurance regulator should be someone with deep insurance knowledge and understanding, who is totally focused just on doing the job—not a politician who knows nothing about insurance and is using the job as a political stepping stone.

Eduardo “Lalo” Vargas, Peace and Freedom, science teacher

Vargas is a high school teacher, and he has been a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He was a candidate for The Los Angeles City Council in 2024. If elected, he would deny approval for all major rate increases and launch an audit of rate hikes over the last five years. He would also will lead market conduct investigations of the 10 largest P/C insurers in California into internal claim procedures and unfair competition.

IJ: How do you feel about the direction of the state’s insurance market?

Vargas: The insurance market is failing to provide affordable and accessible insurance for millions of Californians. With insurers leaving the state or raising premiums beyond what most people can afford, the market has been exposed as a weak foundation for our insurance system. As climate change exacerbates fire risk, the market cannot manage the crisis without passing off the costs of catastrophic wildfires to ordinary consumers.

Californians deserve insurance as a human right, not as a commodity sold for profit. The foundation of our insurance system should be a public insurer that can guarantee coverage for all—whether in response to a natural disaster, a car crash or a health emergency. Everyone deserves affordable insurance as a human right.

IJ: What changes will you make if you are elected to the insurance commissioner post that our readers should know about?

Vargas: Under socialist leadership, the Department of Insurance would operate under a simple principle: the needs of people must always be prioritized over the profits of the insurance industry. That means prioritizing enforcement and holding insurance companies accountable for exploitative business practices and claims procedures.

As Insurance Commissioner, I also pledge to deny all further rate hikes until insurance companies cease their exploitative business practices and pay the survivors of the Los Angeles fires the full compensation needed to rebuild and repair their homes.

IJ: What separates you from the other candidates in the race?

Vargas: I am an environmental science and biology teacher. I spend most of my day teaching about climate change and the solutions to the crisis. To address the insurance crisis, the next Insurance Commissioner must deeply understand the climate crisis, wildfire risk, and have experience working with populations victimized by climate catastrophe.

We need a commissioner knowledgeable about soil composition and remediation, toxicology, forestry, particulate matter pollution and its effects on human health. I’m also running as a socialist with the Peace and Freedom Party because I know that real change can’t just come from electing a single politician, it can only be achieved by an organized working-class movement. I stand for building a mass movement of fire survivors and all the other victims of the insurance industry.

Topics California