SEVERAL CANDIDATES RUNNING TO BE OUR NEXT INSURANCE COMMISSIONER HERE IN CALIFORNIA, TAKING THE DEBATE STAGE IN SACRAMENTO TODAY. CALIFORNIA IS IN THE MIDST OF A PROPERTY INSURANCE CRISIS. AND KCRA 3 POLITICAL DIRECTOR ASHLEY ZAVALA, JOINS US NOW. SO, ASHLEY, WHAT’S THE PITCH TO VOTERS AT THIS POINT? YEAH, THIS IS AN HOUR LONG FORUM. SIX CANDIDATES WHO ARE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE OF BEING THE NEXT INSURANCE COMMISSIONER ALL WEIGHED IN ON THE BIG NEWS OF THE DAY. CURRENT STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER RICARDO LARA ANNOUNCED THE STATE IS TAKING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST STATE FARM. THE COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE SAID THE INSURANCE GIANT BROKE THE LAW WHEN IT CAME TO THE HANDLING OF THE LOS ANGELES AREA. WILDFIRE CLAIMS AND THE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE WANTS THAT COMPANY TO PAY UP IN MILLIONS OF FINES. SO THE SACRAMENTO PRESS CLUB FORUM, WITH THE CANDIDATES HOPING TO REPLACE LAURA, STARTED LESS THAN AN HOUR AFTER THAT NEWS BROKE. THE CANDIDATES INCLUDED DEMOCRAT STATE SENATOR BEN ALLEN, FORMER STATE SENATOR STEVEN BRADFORD, ATTORNEY JANE KIM, FINANCIAL ANALYST PATRICK WOLFE AND REPUBLICANS INSURANCE AGENT STACEY GORDON, AND CONSUMER AND CONSUMER ADVOCATE MERETE FERRIN. HERE’S WHAT EACH HAD TO SAY WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE STATE FARM SITUATION. THIS IS A. THIS IS. I’VE BEEN PUSHING THE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER ON THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME. I CALLED FOR THIS INVESTIGATION A LONG TIME AGO. I WAS SEEING ON THE GROUND ALL OF THE ATROCIOUS BEHAVIOR BEING CONDUCTED BY, BY, BY STATE FARM. THE FACT THAT WE ARE WHERE WE ARE NOW IS YEARS OF MISMANAGEMENT AND MISREGULATION. AND IT’S STARTING TO CHANGE. BUT WE SHOULD NEVER BE IN A POSITION WHERE WE RELY UPON A COMPANY LIKE STATE FARM TO SUCH A DEGREE. WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS CREATE THE SYSTEM FOR STANDARDIZED TERMS THAT WOULD BE OFFERED BY INSURANCE COMPANIES SO THAT JUST LIKE WHEN YOU GO ON TRAVELOCITY AND BOOK A HOTEL, YOU CAN YOU CAN CHECK COMPANY BY COMPANY. EXACTLY. WHAT WOULD YOU GET? WE NEED TO ALSO LOOK AT THE PATTERN OF WHICH THESE COMPANIES ARE DENYING RENEWALS, DELAYING PAYMENT, OR EVEN REFUSING PAYMENT. I THINK WE NEED A SCORECARD SO WE ALL KNOW WHERE IT’S HAPPENING. STATE FARM HAS 20% OF THE HOMES IN CALIFORNIA. THAT’S A HUGE PERCENTAGE OF OUR MARKET. IF WE WERE TO SAY IT’S A VERY DYSFUNCTIONAL MARKET WHEN WE ONLY HAVE REALLY 5 OR 6 LARGE CARRIERS, I JUST REALLY NEED TO COMPETITION DRIVES DOWN PRICES. WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT TEXAS AND NEBRASKA. THEY HAVE TONS OF COMPETITION, ZERO REGULATION, AND HOME OWNER PREMIUMS ARE HIGHER THERE THAN THEY ARE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. ANOTHER ISSUE THE CANDIDATES WEIGHED IN ON WAS WHETHER THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA HAS THE POWER TO FREEZE INSURANCE RATES. THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO THE TOP DEMOCRAT POLLING IN THAT RACE RIGHT NOW. XAVIER BECERRA CLAIMING THAT HE WOULD DO THAT IF HE’S ELECTED. ALL BUT ONE OF THE CANDIDATES SAID, NO, IT’S NOT LEGAL. THE OTHER CANDIDATE, JANE KIM, DID NOT SAY EITHER WAY, BUT SHE SAID IT WOULD BE A
Candidates for California Insurance Commissioner weigh in on State Farm legal action
Updated: 5:24 PM PDT May 4, 2026
Six candidates running for California insurance commissioner debated in Sacramento Monday, an event that started an hour after current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced legal action against State Farm for alleged mishandling of wildfire claims in the Los Angeles area. Lara’s office said the insurance company broke the law and is seeking millions in fines. The forum was hosted by the Sacramento Press Club and featured Democrats State Sen. Ben Allen, former State Sen. Steven Bradford, attorney Jane Kim, financial analyst Patrick Wolff, and Republicans insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden and consumer advocate Merritt Farren. (Video below: What is the Insurance Commissioner responsible for?)”I’ve been pushing the insurance commissioner on this for quite some time, and I called for this investigation a long time ago,” Allen said. “I was seeing on the ground all of the atrocious behavior being conducted by State Farm. And I’m so glad. I mean, I’m really, I’m glad that they did it. But I want to highlight the fact that we are where we are now is years of mismanagement and misregulation, and it’s starting to change.” Wolff said, “But we should never be in a position where we rely upon a company like State Farm to such a degree. And it is absolutely right that State Farm came under very strict scrutiny for its, quote unquote, emergency rate hike request, because State Farm is now in a position where it has market power. We never want to be in a position where insurance companies have market power.” Farren proposed a system for standardized terms across insurance companies. “What we need to do is create a system for standardized terms that would be offered by insurance companies so that, just like when you go on Travelocity and book a hotel, you can check company by company exactly what would you get,” he said. Bradford emphasized the need for transparency in insurance practices. “But we need to also look at the pattern of which these companies are denying renewals, delaying payment or even refusing payment,” he said. “I think we need a scorecard so we know where it’s happening, because you’ll see it in low-income areas, low-income ZIP codes, all of that information needs to be so we can score these companies and understand where they’re writing policies and where they’re walking away from it.” Korsgaden highlighted the market’s dysfunction. “That’s what we’re living under right now. And the reason State Farm, and State Farm has 20% of the homes in California, that’s a huge percentage of our market,” she said. “If we were to sit in, it’s a very dysfunctional market when we only have really five or six large carriers. So, as commissioner, I would be very strict on compliance to the actual contract.” Kim countered the idea that competition alone reduces costs. “I just really need to counter this myth that more competition drives down prices,” she said. “We just have to look at Texas, Nebraska. They have tons of competition, zero regulation, and homeowner premiums are higher there than they are in the state of California. So, let’s go back to what we need to do. There’s plenty of work that we can do here without reforming Prop 103.” The candidates were also asked whether the governor of California has the authority to freeze insurance rates. It comes as the top-polling Democratic candidate in the race for governor, Xavier Becerra, had made it one of his campaign promises.All but one of the candidates said no, the governor does not have the legal authority to freeze rates. One candidate, Jane Kim, didn’t say yes or no but noted it would be an “interesting case study.” See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Six candidates running for California insurance commissioner debated in Sacramento Monday, an event that started an hour after current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced legal action against State Farm for alleged mishandling of wildfire claims in the Los Angeles area.
Lara’s office said the insurance company broke the law and is seeking millions in fines. The forum was hosted by the Sacramento Press Club and featured Democrats State Sen. Ben Allen, former State Sen. Steven Bradford, attorney Jane Kim, financial analyst Patrick Wolff, and Republicans insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden and consumer advocate Merritt Farren.
(Video below: What is the Insurance Commissioner responsible for?)
“I’ve been pushing the insurance commissioner on this for quite some time, and I called for this investigation a long time ago,” Allen said. “I was seeing on the ground all of the atrocious behavior being conducted by State Farm. And I’m so glad. I mean, I’m really, I’m glad that they did it. But I want to highlight the fact that we are where we are now is years of mismanagement and misregulation, and it’s starting to change.”
Wolff said, “But we should never be in a position where we rely upon a company like State Farm to such a degree. And it is absolutely right that State Farm came under very strict scrutiny for its, quote unquote, emergency rate hike request, because State Farm is now in a position where it has market power. We never want to be in a position where insurance companies have market power.”
Farren proposed a system for standardized terms across insurance companies. “What we need to do is create a system for standardized terms that would be offered by insurance companies so that, just like when you go on Travelocity and book a hotel, you can check company by company exactly what would you get,” he said.
Bradford emphasized the need for transparency in insurance practices. “But we need to also look at the pattern of which these companies are denying renewals, delaying payment or even refusing payment,” he said. “I think we need a scorecard so we know where it’s happening, because you’ll see it in low-income areas, low-income ZIP codes, all of that information needs to be so we can score these companies and understand where they’re writing policies and where they’re walking away from it.”
Korsgaden highlighted the market’s dysfunction. “That’s what we’re living under right now. And the reason State Farm, and State Farm has 20% of the homes in California, that’s a huge percentage of our market,” she said. “If we were to sit in, it’s a very dysfunctional market when we only have really five or six large carriers. So, as commissioner, I would be very strict on compliance to the actual contract.”
Kim countered the idea that competition alone reduces costs. “I just really need to counter this myth that more competition drives down prices,” she said. “We just have to look at Texas, Nebraska. They have tons of competition, zero regulation, and homeowner premiums are higher there than they are in the state of California. So, let’s go back to what we need to do. There’s plenty of work that we can do here without reforming Prop 103.”
The candidates were also asked whether the governor of California has the authority to freeze insurance rates. It comes as the top-polling Democratic candidate in the race for governor, Xavier Becerra, had made it one of his campaign promises.
All but one of the candidates said no, the governor does not have the legal authority to freeze rates. One candidate, Jane Kim, didn’t say yes or no but noted it would be an “interesting case study.”
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel