Jane Kim
Candidate for Insurance Commissioner
Jane Kim is a Democratic candidate for California Insurance Commissioner. The vote is set for November 3, 2026. She is a lawyer. She once held elected office in San Francisco. She was the first Korean American elected to office there. She was born July 9, 1977, in New York City. Kim earned a dual B.A., in political science and Asian American studies, from Stanford. She earned a law degree from UC Berkeley. Before office, she was a community organizer. She worked at the Chinatown Community Development Center. She was also a civil rights lawyer, with a group called the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. Kim served on San Francisco's school board starting in 2007. She was later its president. She then won a council seat: District 6, on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. She served there from 2011 to 2019. Her campaign credits her with a free-tuition measure. It covered City College. Her campaign also credits her with the citywide $15 minimum wage. She ran for a state Senate seat, District 11, in 2016. She narrowly lost, to Scott Wiener. She ran for San Francisco mayor too, in a June 2018 special election. She was eliminated in ranked-choice counting. London Breed won that race. She later served as a state political director. That was for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential run. She served as California director of the Working Families Party. Kim announced her run for insurance commissioner in January 2026. That seat is open. She pledged to refuse insurance-industry money. She campaigns on consumer issues, including a proposed state disaster-insurance plan. In the June 2, 2026 primary she came in first. She won 2,328,836 votes (27.4%), per the certified count. She now faces fellow Democrat, State Sen. Ben Allen, in November. He got 1,649,501 votes (19.4%) in the primary. This is the first same-party general election for this office. Her backers include Sen. Bernie Sanders. They also include the Working Families Party. Other accounts list SEIU California. They also list the California Teachers Association and the UFCW Western States Council. Born July 9, 1977. Home: not confirmed. Job: lawyer; has led California's Working Families Party. She is a former San Francisco supervisor. Prior office: San Francisco school board member, 2007 to about 2011, including as its president. San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 6, 2011-2019. She is not an incumbent. The seat is open.
On the issues
- Taxes & Cost of Living
Proposes a public, single-payer-style disaster insurance policy available to every Californian as an alternative to the FAIR Plan.
“single-payer disaster insurance policy for every Californian”
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Would require insurers to spend a legally set minimum share of premium dollars on policyholder protection rather than profit or overhead.
“Insurance companies should spend premium dollars on their intended purpose: protecting policyholders.”
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Would require insurers to meet minimum coverage standards, including guaranteed full replacement cost after a total loss, as a condition of getting rate increases approved.
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Would bar insurers from raising premiums, dropping coverage, or refusing renewal because a policyholder filed a claim, and require insurers to pay interest on delayed claims.
“Your policy shouldn't punish you for using it.”
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Says she is the only Democratic candidate in the race not taking money from the insurance industry, the fossil fuel industry, or corporate PACs.
“the only Democratic candidate not taking a dime from the insurance industry, fossil fuel industry, corporate PACs, or self-funding her campaign”
Source → - Environment, Energy & Climate
Would require insurers to give six months' notice, instead of the current 75 days, before non-renewing a policy or materially changing coverage, so homeowners have time to make wildfire-resilience upgrades.
“six months notice before non-renewing your policy or making material changes to your coverage”
Source →
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