Here's who is running in the heated race for insurance commissioner
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In a typical election year, the interest in the down-ballot race for California insurance commissioner musters modest interest at best.That all changed on Jan.
7, 2025, when wildfires swept through L.A.County, damaging or destroying more than 18,000 homes and killing at least 31 people.The resulting anger directed at the insurance industry over how it has handled claims has helped draw four Democrats into the race, who will be vying this weekend for a critical endorsement at the party’s annual convention in San Francisco ahead of the June 2 primary election.“We haven’t seen this level of competition and, frankly, choice on the Democratic side since it first became an elected office in 1990,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a Los Angeles insurance advocacy group.
“They represent wide-ranging views and a broad diversity of candidates.” Business The county will investigate the insurer following complaints from January wildfire victims that their requests for compensation have been delayed, denied and underpaid.Up for endorsement are state Sen.Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica), whose district includes the Palisades fire zone; former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim; former state Sen.
Steven Bradford; and San Francisco businessman Patrick Wolff, who has not held elective office.Three Republicans have declared their candidacies, but that party’s convention isn’t until April.The filing deadline to file for the race is March 6.
The GOP field includes businessman Robert Howell, who lost by 20 points in the 2022 general election to current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.Also running are insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden from Grover Beach, and attorney Merritt Farren, whose Pacific Palisades home burned down.Peace and Freedom Party candidate Eduardo Vargas, a Los Angeles school teacher, is on the ballot too.The race also follows Lara’s two troubled ...