Jane Kim declared victory on Friday in California’s race for insurance commissioner, positioning her campaign as an unapologetic progressive challenge to an industry that has spent years raising premiums and retreating from high-risk wildfire zones, KGO-TV reported.
The former San Francisco supervisor held a 53% to 47% lead over state Senator Ben Allen with 65% of ballots counted by midday Friday, according to CalMatters. Allen alluded to the fact that election workers are still counting ballots, but said it appears his opponent has won and that he wishes her the best.
Kim’s platform centers on establishing a first-in-the-nation state disaster insurance program.
“We are going to take on this three-trillion-dollar industry because they have been profiting for way too long by raising our premiums, canceling our coverage and fighting our claims,” Kim told supporters in San Francisco, as reported by KGO-TV.
A Historic Win at a Critical Time for the Insurance Market
Kim will enter office as the ninth person—and the first woman and Asian American—to hold the post since it became an elected position in 1988, CalMatters reported. Her victory arrives after a campaign backed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, and the California Working Families Party.
She succeeds outgoing Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, whose tenure drew heavy scrutiny over his relationships with industry executives and political donors while homeowners across the state struggled with soaring costs and non-renewals. Nearly half of California residents report paying more for home or renters insurance than they did the previous year, according to a poll by the Insurance Fairness Project and Data for Progress cited by CalMatters.
The new commissioner will immediately inherit the fallout from the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County, where many survivors continue to face insurance delays and denials. The Department of Insurance currently has pending actions against State Farm, the state’s largest individual insurer, and the last-resort FAIR Plan over their handling of claims from the Eaton and Palisades fires.
The Human Toll of Wildfire Disasters
Among those supporting Kim’s campaign is Amy Robinson, whose family lost their home in Napa County’s 2020 Glass Fire. Robinson joined Kim at a November 6 press conference at Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco.
“My community could only afford to rebuild three of the 10 homes that we lost,” Robinson said, as reported by KGO-TV. “We have the double whammy now of extremely high building costs and insurance that gets devalued as you’re fighting the fight.”
While Kim’s proposal for a state-run wildfire fund will require extensive coordination with lawmakers and community stakeholders, she expressed confidence during her Friday victory speech that meaningful changes can be achieved within her first year in office.
“This office is not a dictatorship,” Kim told supporters. “We’re going to have to work with community leaders across the state to make our big ideas possible.”
