# Insurance Commissioner Compare records and positions simply between Jane Kim or Ben Allen for Insurance Commissioner at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person regulates insurance companies in California. They also oversee insurance policies and rates. - Jurisdiction: State of California - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/insurance-commissioner - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: August 30, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 96 out of 100 (Very strong), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Jane Kim** — Attorney/Consumer Advocate · Democratic - **Ben Allen** — California State Senator · Democratic Whoever wins this office inherits California's insurance crisis: insurers fleeing wildfire zones and a state FAIR Plan swollen far past its design. The November 3 runoff is two Democrats — Jane Kim and Ben Allen — so this one is a genuine choice of approach, not party. The Commissioner approves or rejects insurance rates and polices insurer conduct for a four-year term — decisions that determine whether coverage in wildfire zones is available and affordable, and how far the FAIR Plan safety net stretches. Kim's theory: the industry has captured its regulator, so refuse its money and build public backstops. Allen's theory: the market is broken because rate review is too slow, so fix the machinery and lure insurers back. Ask which failure you fear more — a regulator too cozy with industry, or one industry won't work with. ## Jane Kim Democrat; civil-rights attorney, former SF supervisor, and until recently California director of the Working Families Party. Kim pledges to take zero insurance-industry money and to push a state 'Disaster Insurance for All' program. Their case is independence from the industry they'd regulate. **Strengths:** A career organizer with insurer-transparency mandates at the center of Kim's platform, and a verifiable no-industry-money pledge. **Trade-offs:** No insurance-regulation experience surfaced in coverage, and Kim's signature program would need legislation beyond the Commissioner's existing authority. **Keep in mind:** Kim's plan's ceiling depends on the Legislature; the pledge, at least, is checkable in filings over time. ## Ben Allen Democrat; State Senator since 2014 and author of more than 90 laws, including the nation's most sweeping plastics-reduction law. His plan: cut rate review from years to months, shore up the FAIR Plan, and rebuild the private market. His case is legislative competence applied to a broken system. **Strengths:** A proven legislative operator with the most concrete market-stabilization plan in the field. **Trade-offs:** Working with insurers is the plan — which makes industry goodwill both a feature and a dependency. **Keep in mind:** He accepts real-estate-industry contributions (about $12,000 reported) that Kim refuses; the contrast is a live issue in the race (per CalMatters). ## Financial info - **Jane Kim** - Primary: $882,021 raised (Small donors: $38,399; Individuals: $527,440; PACs & committees: $216,450; Businesses & other orgs: $36,400; Self-funding: $23,500) - November: $151,626 raised (Individuals: $131,826; Businesses & other orgs: $9,800; Self-funding: $10,000) - **Ben Allen** - Primary: $1,924,589 raised (Small donors: $4,413; Individuals: $861,842; PACs & committees: $606,654; Businesses & other orgs: $446,350) - November: $109,535 raised (Individuals: $59,035; PACs & committees: $36,500; Businesses & other orgs: $14,000) Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [CalMatters — 2026 primary voter guide and statewide race coverage](https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/) 3. [LAist — June 2026 primary voter guides](https://laist.com/news/politics/voter-guides) 4. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot Insurance Commissioner is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Insurance Commissioner — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/insurance-commissioner (sources last retrieved August 30, 2026). 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