California insurance commissioner race puts spotlight on state's coverage crisis

As California continues to face a statewide insurance crisis, voters will decide in Tuesday's primary election which two candidates will advance in the race to become the state's next insurance commissioner.

The commissioner oversees the California Department of Insurance and regulates the state's insurance industry, including approving rates on homeowner, auto and business coverages. The office plays a key role in determining how insurers operate in California and how the state responds to challenges ranging from wildfire-related losses to rising insurance costs.

Current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, a Democrat first elected in 2018, has reached his term limit, making him unable to run for re-election.

The race has become one of the more high-profile statewide contests of this election cycle. California's insurance market has come under growing strain in recent years as more frequent and destructive wildfires, rising rebuilding costs and overall heightened financial risks have pushed some insurers to pause or cancel policies and even reduce their footprints in the state.

The Los Angeles-area wildfires in 2025 were a major turning point. Previous CBS News analysis of insurance data found that thousands of homes in the area were dropped by their insurers months before the fires started.

The fires destroyed thousands of homes and generated billions of dollars in insured losses, further escalating concerns among insurance providers about the financial risks of doing business in California.

Companies have increasingly limited or abandoned offering policies in wildfire-prone regions, leaving more homeowners unable to secure traditional coverage or pushed into the FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, which itself has grown strained with more and more people signing up.

Rising premiums and shrinking availability have also been accompanied by mounting political pressure to overhaul how insurance is regulated in the state.

Last fall, some major insurers committed to remaining in the state and expanding coverage after California announced new regulatory changes. New reforms included allowing insurers to use catastrophe modeling, computer programs that factor in wildfire history and climate data to more precisely set new rates.

Earlier this year, Commissioner Lara said in an Assembly Insurance Committee meeting that insurance companies were writing new policies again as a result of those reforms.

The next insurance commissioner will inherit continued pressure from consumers seeking affordable coverage and insurers seeking greater flexibility in the marketplace.

Who's running for California insurance commissioner?

The candidate field includes a mixture of backgrounds in politics, law, finance, and the insurance industry. Among the most well-known figures are Democratic candidates State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Pacific Palisades), former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim, Gardena native former Southern California Sen. Steven Bradford, and financial analyst Patrick Wolff. Among the leading Republican candidates are insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden and former Amazon and Disney executive Merritt Farren.

Under California's top-two primary system, the two candidates with the most votes, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the November general election.

In statements given to California's official Voter Information Guide, candidates outlined differing approaches to how they would tackle the state's insurance challenges.

Allen, whose own district was impacted by last year's Los Angeles fires, said his main priority as insurance commissioner would be to keep the consumer first and safeguard the environment. Bradford has said his goal is to stabilize the state's insurance marketplace and lower costs for consumers. Farren, who lost his home in the Los Angeles fires, said he'd move to bring innovation he's learned in previous roles to help regulate the insurance market, focusing on lowering costs and expanding options.

Wolff said his goal in the role would be to create a fairer and more efficient insurance system. Korsgaden said she will move to lower costs and simplify the system. Kim shared a similar sentiment, saying she would cap excessive profits and work to create a system that benefits all working families.