California’s insurance commissioner may be the state’s most unenviable political job.

It faces heavy scrutiny from companies who want the Department of Insurance to approve rate increases more quickly, it is the target of frustration and anger from customers who have faced higher prices and fewer coverage options in recent years and who are still trying to recover from last year’s decimating Los Angeles-area fires, and its responsibilities extend well beyond property insurance.

It carries none of the flashy prestige that comes with being California’s governor.

Yet more than 10 people have decided to run for the job, making it one of the state’s most competitive and consequential races.

The top two finishers in the June primary will advance to the November ballot.

Ben Allen (D), a state senator from Santa Monica, has focused heavily on environmental issues in the Legislature since he was elected in 2014, including chairing the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. He has campaigned on speeding up the time it takes to review requests by insurance companies to change their rates and expanding programs that help residents make their homes more fire-resistant. He supports efforts “to ensure fossil fuel companies bear appropriate financial responsibility for climate damages that are driving insurance costs up for everyone,” among other goals. He is a full-time legislator.

Steven Bradford (D) went from the city council of Gardena, in Los Angeles County, to the state Capitol — first as an Assembly member and then as a senator. He reached his term limit in 2024. He first joined the race for lieutenant governor before changing to run as insurance commissioner. His priorities include requiring insurance companies to publish how they set prices and calculate risk, working to create a “checklist of the most effective ways to reduce fire and flood risk” and establishing “a public–private partnership” to help spread out risk for companies.

Robert Howell (R) unsuccessfully ran for insurance commissioner in the November 2022 election, earning 40% of the vote. He promises “a clear path to coverage for homeowners who take wildfire-mitigation steps,” to expand resources for making homes more fire resistant, and to be a “watchdog” over the insurance industry. He argues, “Career politicians who are beholden to insurance insiders have created” the state’s insurance problems. He is the CEO of a San Jose company that builds machines for the semiconductor industry.

Merritt Farren (R) is an attorney who was involved in challenging a rate increase by State Farm before joining the race. He said he and his husband lost their home in the Palisades Fire, one of the major blazes that hit the Los Angeles area last year and that his background working for Amazon and Disney also gives him experience in how to innovate and provide strong customer service. He wants to get rid of the California FAIR Plan, the state’s backup insurance provider funded by companies that do business in the state, because he argues it creates an incentive for insurers to not renew policies and he said he wants to use technology to lead a “technology-centric reinvention of insurance regulations.”

Jane Kim (D), a former San Francisco supervisor later became part of the California staff of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign and the state director of the Working Families Party, which calls itself “a multiracial party that fights for workers over bosses and people over the powerful,” but she is running as a Democrat. Kim wants to create a public disaster insurance program, prevent companies from raising rates after someone files a home or auto claim, and “end price discrimination for auto insurance.”

Stacy Korsgaden (R), a financial adviser based in San Luis Obispo County said she is running “because California’s insurance market is in crisis, and she has the experience needed to make a difference.” Korsgaden said she will advocate for homeowner and auto insurance tax credits to help bring prices down and expand the options that residents have for coverage, among other goals. She said she brings experience, not ideology, to the job.

Sean Lee (R) leads an insurance technology company based in Southern California. Lee said he has for decades worked “with families facing rising premiums, homeowners seeking reliable protection, and seniors concerned about financial security” and wants to use artificial intelligence to “improve efficiency and combat fraud.” He said he will push for spreading risk out more among insurers and capital markets to try and stabilize California’s insurance system and for “policy coordination across state lines — because solving this crisis requires more than one state acting alone.”

Lalo Vargas (Peace and Freedom Party) wants “to end the stranglehold that private insurance has over California, to investigate and hold insurance executives accountable for their crimes against consumers and to build a public insurance system that can guarantee coverage for all.” He identifies as a socialist and wants to freeze rate hikes and create a public insurer. He said he is a high school science teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District teacher and a former volunteer firefighter.

Patrick Wolff (D), a former national chess champion, became a licensed property and casualty insurance agent in November after years of working in and closely watching the insurance industry. He is a financial analyst and wants to overhaul the department’s website, speed up the rate review process, and mandate that the department create a performance report card for how companies handle claims. He argues his “deep understanding of the insurance markets, paired with his real-world business and leadership experience,” make him equipped to become the state’s next insurance commissioner.

Eric Aarnio (R) and Keith Davis (American Independent) have registered to run in the race but did not file formal campaign statements with the Secretary of State.

Allen came into 2026 leading the pack on fundraising with more than $940,000 on hand. So far this year, he has received an array of contributions from individual donors as well as major organizations, including those representing teachers, firefighters and broadband companies.

Bradford has received large contributions from building, boilermaker and steamfitter unions, and Kim has been the beneficiary of major spending from unions that represent domestic, long-term care workers and teachers.

Candidates have also pitched in their own money. Wolff has chipped in at least $600,000 to aid his effort. Howell has loaned himself at least $50,000. Farren has contributed more than $100,000 to his own campaign.

Korsgaden, Lee and Vargas have received money from mostly individuals.

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