With this editorial, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board wraps up its endorsements for the Nov. 3 election by weighing in on five statewide offices. By far the most important contest is for insurance commissioner, which pits two candidates with reputations as progressive Democrats: state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, and former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim.
But there is a huge difference between them: Allen, whose district includes Pacific Palisades — which was leveled by a massive L.A. blaze in January 2025 — has seen up close the complexities of home insurance in a state at constant risk of devastating wildfires. Like current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, he cites the importance of preventing more large insurers from abandoning the state because of unprofitability. Such departures would further supersize the heavily regulated FAIR Plan, the state’s fire insurer of last resort, which has grown explosively in recent years despite offering bare-bones coverage. Allen knows that there are no easy answers.
Kim, by contrast, calls for “single-payer universal disaster insurance” in which a state fund would cover disaster losses for everyone. She asserts New Zealand, France and Spain have similar programs that have been big successes. But as a devastating analysis in The San Francisco Standard documents, she’s lying.
“Since California’s insurance crisis is driven by wildfire, these countries must run a comprehensive government insurance program that includes fire risk, right? Nope. None of these countries’ state-run insurance systems cover fire,” wrote Patrick Wolff. “Kim’s idea of replacing private wildfire insurance with the state would put California taxpayers on the hook for untold billions.”
It’s doubtful that Kim would be able to implement her incoherent plan if elected. But here’s one certain result of her winning: more home insurers fleeing the state rather than dealing with a reckless know-nothing.
In the race for controller, Democratic incumbent Malia Cohen — as her own website shows — has always seemed more interested in burnishing her credentials with the left than the nuts and bolts of her job as the state’s de facto chief fiscal officer and bookkeeper. The former San Francisco supervisor has been repeatedly dinged by the state auditor for multibillion-dollar errors in financial reports.
Her opponent, San Diego Republican Herb W. Morgan, is far more impressive and qualified. The founder of a very successful investment firm and a former member of the board of the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System has extremely promising ideas about bringing “radical transparency” to state finances by launching a website that makes it much easier to scrutinize spending decisions.
In the race for lieutenant governor, the Republican candidate is Gloria Romero, who only joined the GOP in 2024. As a Democrat, she represented Los Angeles in the Assembly from 1998 to 2010, where she was praised for being willing to take on teacher unions. Now she calls dangerous Robert F. Kennedy Jr. her personal hero and traffics in fringe medical theories.
Her Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Fiona Ma, has a much stronger reputation than most state leaders. Elected in 2018, the CPA and former state lawmaker has served ably as California’s lead banker and asset manager, especially in the chaotic early months of the pandemic.
The lieutenant governor’s job is mostly ceremonial. The most important quality in candidates seeking the post is the ability to serve as governor if necessary because of tragedy or other events. The candidate who has spent recent years overseeing the finances of the nation’s biggest and richest state is our choice.
For secretary of state, we endorse incumbent Shirley N. Weber. The Democrat distinguished herself as a criminal justice and education reformer while in the Assembly representing San Diego and has done a solid job since being appointed to her state post by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. For years, she has offered calm, thoughtful defenses that refute the wild election conspiracy claims made by Donald Trump. But she also acknowledges legit concerns. In an interview with editorial writers, she was open to changes in the state’s ballot harvesting law that would require that only a person known to a voter could deliver that voter’s ballot.
Her Republican opponent, former Assemblymember Don Wagner, blames her for the state’s extremely slow vote counts. But a cursory examination of this claim shows that she’s following duly enacted state laws.
For California treasurer, Republican candidate Jennifer Hawks worked for 21 years as an executive assistant at a Bay Area Catholic school before her retirement. She admits she would have to do a lot of learning on the job.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is simply the only qualified candidate. The Democrat — an ambassador in the Obama administration — has decades of experience in the private sector working for AKT Development, a very successful company founded by her father. She also holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.