SAN FRANCISCO — Most Californians will skip past it on the ballot. They should not. The next insurance commissioner will approve the rates you pay to insure your home and your car.
It is the only competitive statewide race this year, the San Francisco Standard reported, and both candidates are Democrats. Former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and state Sen. Ben Allen agree that California’s home insurance market is broken. They do not agree on how to fix it.
For families who have put their savings into a house, this is not abstract. Homebuyers often cannot get a mortgage without insurance, KALW noted. An owner whose uninsured home is damaged can lose nearly everything.
Who they are
Kim represented San Francisco on the Board of Supervisors from 2011 to 2019. She is a civil rights attorney and a former state director of the California Working Families Party, and she ran California operations for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Her ballot designation is “attorney/consumer advocate.”
Allen represents West Los Angeles, including Pacific Palisades, in the state Senate. He wrote the $10 billion climate bond voters passed in 2024 and points to his work helping constituents after the 2025 Palisades fire.
Kim led the June primary with 26.8%. Allen was second with 19.6%. Two recent polls found most voters still undecided.
Two different fixes
Kim wants the state to take wildfire risk out of private homeowners policies. Under her plan, a mandatory state-run disaster insurance program would cover every home and set its own rates, with premiums also paying for wildfire prevention. She would require insurers that sell auto, life or renters policies in California to offer homeowners coverage too. The plan would need approval from the Legislature and the governor.
“We have to make insurance affordable, available, and fair, or we’re shutting everyday Californians out of our economy,” Kim told KALW.
Allen would keep private insurers and change the rules they play by. He wants rate reviews cut from years to months, more competition to bring insurers back, fire-hardening standards that lower premiums and a return of insurer disclosure of fossil fuel investments.
“My plan is actually grounded in the reality of the market and the system that we have,” Allen told the Standard.
Critics have questioned Kim’s math. Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog, which has not endorsed in the race, told the Standard the “numbers don’t add up” on her wildfire plan. Kim has called the status quo the real gamble. “What is magical thinking is that we can continue to do what we’re doing today and expect a different result tomorrow,” she said.
Record outside money
Outside groups have spent more than $6 million on the race, a record for the office, CalMatters reported. About $3.2 million has gone to support Allen and more than $1.5 million to oppose Kim. Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen is the largest individual contributor, at about $3.5 million across three committees.
Groups supporting Kim have spent more than $958,000, much of it from the California Working Families Party.
Both candidates have pledged not to take insurance money. CalMatters found insurance-related donations to a committee supporting Allen, including three $10,000 contributions from bail bond insurers and $48,000 from a health insurance PAC. Allen said he did not ask for the outside spending. “I didn’t ask for this and don’t welcome it,” he said.
“These contributions are an investment in him and themselves, not for consumers,” Kim said.
The California Democratic Party and California Environmental Voters endorsed Allen. Kim is endorsed by Sanders and the California Labor Federation.
Why the office matters
California is one of 11 states that elect their insurance commissioner. Voters made the job elected through Proposition 103, a 1980s ballot measure that also cut premiums 20% and gave the office power over rates. As private insurers have pulled back, more homeowners have been pushed onto the FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort.
It is a down-ballot race with up-front consequences. The winner will be in the room every time an insurer asks to raise your rate.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check your registration and track your ballot at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
This report draws on the San Francisco Standard, CalMatters and KALW.
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