Insurance commissioner candidates split key endorsements

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Set us as preferred State Sen.Ben Allen and former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim have split key endorsements, setting up a tight race for California’s next insurance commissioner.Allen, (D-Santa Monica), who represents the Pacific Palisades neighborhood severely damaged in the January 2025 firestorm, received the coveted endorsement last weekend of the California Democratic Party.Kim, who led the field in June’s crowded primary, was endorsed Tuesday by the California Federation of Labor Unions, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO that represents more than 1,300 state labor unions.

California Follow live updates, analysis and highlights from 2026 election day’s key races, such as California governor, Los Angeles mayor, L.A.City Council and more.Parke Skelton, a retired veteran Democratic political consultant, said that he expects the slate mailers, field volunteers and other support that each organization can provide their endorsed candidate will wash out.“I think it’s going to be very, very close,” he said.Two Democrats are facing off for the first time in the general election for insurance commissioner due to the open primary system instituted in 2011, in which the two top vote-getters advance regardless of party affiliation.Kim bested Allen in the primary with 27.4% of the vote to his 19.4%, with an online campaign poll conducted for Allen in July showing that likely voters still prefer Kim by 7 points.

But it also found that the general election on Nov.3 is wide open, with most voters undecided.Allen secured his endorsement after getting at least 60% of the vote of the party’s executive board at its meeting in San Diego.

Kim needed at least two thirds of the 1,000 delegates attending the labor federation’s Oakland convention.The campaign to succeed outgoing Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has drawn more at...