\n View All Responses
\n <\/a><\/p>\nDemocrat Steve Bradford, an education organization board member, previously served in the California State Senate, the state Assembly and on the Gardena City Council. His plans include addressing transparency in insurance pricing, creating rewards for risk mitigation, addressing insurance availability and fixing the FAIR Plan.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you feel about the direction of the state\u2019s insurance market?<\/p>\n
Bradford: Honestly, I\u2019m concerned\u2014and I think the industry is too. Traveling across California, I\u2019ve heard from homeowners who did everything right and still lost coverage, but I\u2019ve also listened to insurers who feel the regulatory framework hasn\u2019t kept pace with the real cost of climate risk. They\u2019re both right.<\/p>\n
Since 2019, over 100,000 Californians have lost home insurance, and carriers have exited markets they can no longer price accurately. That\u2019s not a villain story\u2014that\u2019s a broken system that isn\u2019t working for anyone. What I want to build is a framework where accurate risk pricing, market stability, and consumer affordability can coexist. That\u2019s a harder problem than pointing fingers, but it\u2019s the only one worth solving.<\/p>\n
Q: What changes will you make if elected?<\/p>\n
Bradford: My focus will be on building a regulatory environment where insurers can operate sustainably and consumers are genuinely protected\u2014because those goals aren\u2019t in conflict.<\/p>\n
First, I support modernizing how we assess and price risk. Carriers need to use forward-looking catastrophic modeling that reflects today\u2019s climate reality, and the regulatory process should move at the speed that requires.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bradford_Steve-300x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cI bring a legislative record on environmental policy and consumer protection, but I also understand that a commissioner who treats the industry as an adversary will accomplish very little.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Bradford<\/p>\n
Second, I\u2019ll push hard for a real risk mitigation credit system\u2014giving insurers the data and confidence to re-enter markets where homeowners and communities have invested in resilience. Reduced risk should mean expanded coverage.<\/p>\n
Third, I\u2019ll work to stabilize the FAIR Plan so it functions as a true transitional market, not a growing liability. A healthier private market is the goal, and I want to partner with the industry to get there.<\/p>\n
Q: What separates you from the other candidates?<\/p>\n
Bradford: I approach this office as a problem-solver, not a prosecutor. Traveling the state, I\u2019ve heard from carriers, agents, consumer advocates, and homeowners\u2014and what strikes me is that most of them want the same thing: a market that works. I bring a legislative record on environmental policy and consumer protection, but I also understand that a commissioner who treats the industry as an adversary will accomplish very little.<\/p>\n
The real work is creating conditions where insurers can price risk accurately, invest in California with confidence, and still reach the working families and communities that need coverage most. That takes relationship-building, regulatory clarity, and a willingness to make the hard calls\u2014not just the popular ones. That\u2019s the kind of commissioner I intend to be.<\/p>\n
Compiled by Don Jergler, West Coast Editor of Insurance Journal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Bradford Candidate Response – 2 of 8 This article is part of a multi-part series introducing candidates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,22432,9,17184,8,121668,132491,3665,132567],"class_list":["post-317146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-department-of-insurance","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-insurance-commissioner","tag-california-news","tag-cdi","tag-don-jergler","tag-homeowners","tag-steve-bradford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}