Kim leads Allen by 168,000 votes in California insurance race

Jane Kim held a lead of 168,000 votes over Ben Allen as of 11 p.m. Tuesday in the race for California insurance commissioner. At that hour, 5.8 million ballots had been cast statewide. Approximately 76% of precincts had partially reported results.

Kim, 49, a former San Francisco supervisor, said she was cautiously optimistic about winning the election. She gathered with supporters in a neighborhood bar in San Francisco to watch the counts. “Californians want an independent Insurance Commissioner who will fight for them, not for billionaires and corporations,” Kim said in a statement to the Southern California News Group. She added that the campaign was unique in California’s history.

Allen, 48, a state senator representing parts of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, described the race as a dead heat. He watched the results from a venue in Venice. “There’s literally still millions of votes that are yet to be counted,” Allen said. He noted the race stood at 51% to 49% and said he would continue monitoring the tallies for the next week.

The contest features two Democrats vying to replace term-limited incumbent Ricardo Lara. This marks the first time two candidates from the same party have faced each other since the office became elected in 1990. An 11-candidate field advanced to the general election after the primary. The race has drawn increased attention due to rising homeowner insurance premiums following last year’s wildfires in Los Angeles County.

The candidates proposed different strategies to address the state’s insurance market. Kim plans to replace the current multipayer private market and the FAIR Plan with a centralized, state-managed system. She wants to cap executive pay and fund home-hardening measures through a public pool. Allen opposes capping executive pay and seeks to reduce risk through wildfire mitigation and building code updates. He aims to depopulate the FAIR Plan by attracting more private insurers.

The FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, raised rates by 29.1% for certain homeowners starting Oct. 15. The next commissioner will oversee this overburdened program amid industry demands for higher premiums. California’s secretary of state’s office will continue tallying votes daily. The office has until Dec. 11 to certify the final results.