Insurance Commissioner Race Narrows

Two Democrats are poised to face each other in the November general election for Insurance Commissioner after leading in the vote count. Jane Kim is former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, while Ben Allen is a California state Senator. 

At the 2026 California Democratic Party endorsing convention, Allen received the largest share of delegate votes in the Insurance Commissioner race, with approximately 42% (1,056 votes) while Kim finished a very close second with 40% (1,018 votes). There was no party endorsement since no candidate reached the required 60% threshold.  The final primary election vote count may not be certified by the Secretary of State until July.

Jane Kim

Kim served as the California Political Director for Bernie 2020 and as a Senior Fellow at both the Sanders Institute and the Young Elected Officials Network, a program of People for the American Way. She has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, State Controller Malia Cohen, and multiple labor unions. 

Kim has served as the California Director for the Working Families Party where her campaign information states that she recruited and trained the next generation of leaders ready to fight for working families. She has also sought to achieve gender balance in the California Legislature as a member of the Board of Directors for Close the Gap California – a statewide initiative to achieve gender balance in the California Legislature.

Kim received her B.A. from Stanford University and her J.D. from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law.

Ben Allen

Ben Allen is a California state Senator representing the Santa Monica-Malibu area. His district was severely impacted by the Palisades fire. His campaign information states that he wrote legislation to assist mobile home park residents who lost everything, provide tax assistance for fire victims, and give greater help to victims trying to maximize content coverage from their insurers. He has supported efforts to establish home hardening standards to help residents better protect their homes from future fires and reduce liabilities for the insurance market. 

Allen has been endorsed by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, several Democratic state legislative leaders and multiple labor unions.
​
Allen graduated from Santa Monica High School, received his B.A. from Harvard and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge. He received his J.D. from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law. Before joining the Senate, Allen served as President of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education.