{"id":397598,"date":"2026-07-14T06:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397598\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T06:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:18:08","slug":"state-insurance-commissioner-candidate-makes-campaign-stop-in-fresno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397598\/","title":{"rendered":"State Insurance Commissioner candidate makes campaign stop in Fresno"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 California Senator Ben Allen stopped in Fresno as part of his campaign to become the next state insurance commissioner.<\/p>\n

Allen is pitching a platform he says is focused on stabilizing California\u2019s insurance market and improving how insurers respond when disaster strikes.<\/p>\n

Insurance is often overlooked until an emergency happens, but the state insurance commissioner oversees the insurance industry and its practices. <\/p>\n

Allen, a Democrat, said his decision to run was shaped by what he saw during the Palisades fires in Los Angeles, when neighbors were forced to evacuate and then navigate insurance claims and recovery.<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ethan Swope, File)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could see the fires from my window, we had to evacuate my mom,” Allen said. “It was really scary.”<\/p>\n

Allen said the aftermath required extensive help for people who were displaced and trying to rebuild their lives. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to help really thousands of people that were suddenly displaced, find a new place, put their kids in a new school, where they’re going to set up their new business, and then go through the arduous process of getting payouts from the insurance industry,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s campaign priorities include <\/a>bringing insurance companies back to the state, increasing investments aimed at reducing fire and flood risk, and holding insurers accountable to offer lower costs and faster responses. <\/p>\n

He said insurers should meet neighbors halfway, particularly when property owners take steps to reduce risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they’re going to step up and do this work and invest in reducing their fire risk, you’ve got to step up and offer them affordable insurance,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s opponent on the November ballot is former San Francisco Democratic Supervisor Jane Kim, also a Democrat. <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Allen\u2019s<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s opponent on the November ballot is former San Francisco Democratic Supervisor Jane Kim, also a Democrat (PHOTO COURTESY OF JANEKIM.ORG)<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s main platform is \u201caffordable, available insurance for all,\u201d including a proposal for a statewide, single-payer disaster insurance policy for every Californian.<\/p>\n

Allen believes that is wishful thinking. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis job is about not behind the sky ideas that we have no ability to implement that would really put the state at massive risk. It’s about actually looking people in the eye, not making promises we can’t keep, and really working to make the system work better for working people right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Allen and Kim are advocating against the California FAIR Plan, a policy designed to provide basic fire coverage when it is not available from a traditional carrier. Both candidates say the plan does more to hurt Californians than to help them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 California Senator Ben Allen stopped in Fresno as part of his campaign to become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-397598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397598","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=397598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}