Jane Kim

Kim received a B.A. in political science and Asian American studies from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Her professional experience included working as a civil rights attorney, as a community organizer for the Chinatown Community Development Center, as the California political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, and as the director of the California Working Families Party.[1][2]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I've spent my career taking on the complex systems that make California unaffordable, and I've consistently delivered results for working people. I served for 12 years as an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Board of Education. I authored California's first $15 minimum wage, passed the strongest tenant protections in the country, negotiated record levels of affordable housing, and made San Francisco the first city in the nation to provide tuition-free community college for all residents. I've also worked as a youth organizer, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, and as California Political Director for Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2020. I spent the last four years as the California Director of the Working Families Party advocating for consumers over corporate interests.

The role of Insurance Commissioner requires policy expertise, political leadership, and the courage to stand up to powerful industries. I have a proven track record of all three. I will bring together stakeholders, negotiate with powerful interests, and write and enact policies to make insurance more affordable and available for all.

The insurance commissioner should be working for you to lower prices, not working for the industry to increase profits. That’s why I will never take a dime of insurance industry money—and I am the only Democrat running for this office also refusing contributions from both corporate PACs and fossil fuel companies.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I will make property insurance available and affordable for all by establishing a Disaster Insurance for All Program. To stabilize the market, we must actually reduce risk, not just get better at pricing it. To do this, we can place all homes into a single statewide pool for natural disaster coverage and keep premiums and investment returns in California. As a state, we can reduce our collective risk by investing a share of this revenue in community resiliency and infrastructure which makes us safer and offer zero- or low-interest loans to homeowners for home hardening and safety improvements.

By reducing risk instead of just reacting to it, a single payer system can actually make us safer.I will guarantee fast and fair claims. Your rates shouldn't go up because you filed a claim, asked about filing one, or had a no-fault collision. I will freeze your rates when you file a claim. I'll require insurers to advance most of your contents coverage within two weeks of filing a claim, pay you interest on claims when they deny, delay or underpay a valid claim, investigate insurers with high complaint rates, and publish claims performance data. I will establish a Policyholder Bill of Rights by law: timely decisions on claims, clear written explanations for any denial, access to independent appraisal, and documentation of all communications with your insurer.I will create a plan to guarantee healthcare for every child in California by establishing Medicare for Kids. Healthcare for all children is affordable and should be guaranteed. No child should be denied care and annual check-ups because of their parent's job or employment status. Roughly 400,000 low-income children lose their Medi-Cal coverage every year because of a slight increase in income, missed renewal forms, or paperwork. While this office does not oversee managed health care plans, it can write the plan and put it forward to legislators and voters. Additionally, I’ll expand California’s existing Low Cost Car Insurance Program into a true public option for affordable car insurance.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I fight every day for middle and working class people to be able to afford to live and stay in California. And I’m running for Insurance Commissioner to re-imagine and redesign insurance to work for all of us. This means taking on the $3.3 trillion insurance industry that’s recording blockbuster profits while raising premiums, cancelling coverage, and fighting our claims every step of the way.

We require Californians to have insurance to drive to work, open a small business or qualify for a mortgage. For this reason, insurance must be affordable and accessible to all. Otherwise we are cutting everyday Californians out of the economy.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility of the Insurance Commissioner is to be a fierce watchdog for consumer rights, and an independent voice for Californians. This office is the only backstop between Californians and a $3 trillion industry that’s price gouging insurance products we are required to have to participate in our economy and build wealth. California's insurance crisis didn't happen because we haven’t elected an actuary as Insurance Commissioner; it happened because we lacked leaders willing to use the Insurance Commissioner's office to hold the industry accountable. I've spent my career doing exactly what this office should be doing – negotiating with powerful corporate interests and winning. Rate regulation requires negotiation skills, reforming market conduct is about being unafraid to hold large corporations accountable, and delivering consumer protections demands real political will. I have demonstrated the ability to successfully do all three.

We don’t need to elect a Commissioner who knows how to sell insurance — we need to elect someone with the courage to solve it. The Department of Insurance already has insurance analysts and actuaries. What it needs is a Commissioner who understands the market deeply – which I do – and who knows how to legislate and negotiate on behalf of working people and not the industry. That’s what I’ve been doing my entire career, and it’s what sets me apart from other candidates backed by the insurance industry and corporate PACs.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

The Insurance Commissioner’s regulatory responsibilities, in particular, rate regulation, are the most important. The Commissioner’s role is to ensure that rates are neither inadequate or excessive and has the authority to reject unjustified premium increases. Despite receiving the rate increases that insurers claim will keep them in California, insurers are leaving and pushing people onto the failing and undercapitalized FAIR plan. In the meantime, companies are posting record profits while Californians watch their premiums rise or lose their coverage altogether. The tools to push back exist, but the political will does not. I will be an independent voice and advocate for consumers and working Californians over billion dollar corporate interests, and I have the experience needed to negotiate and regulate fair rates for Californians.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Many people know that the Insurance Commissioner can require insurers to justify rate increases. What’s lesser-known is that the Insurance Commissioner can also ensure fast and fair claims by holding insurance companies accountable: enforcing timely payouts after collisions or disasters, investigating companies with lots of consumer complaints for suspicious denials, and referring any potential criminal wrongdoing to the California Attorney General.

We can also bring much more transparency to the industry. All of the performance data on how insurance companies are treating their customers already exists, but it’s not public. I will publish a performance dashboard so every Californian can see how their insurer ranks. When consumers are able to compare amongst the various insurers, bad actors will lose business and be forced to change their approach. That's a tool this office has never fully used, and it doesn't require new legislation to deploy.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Dolores Huerta, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Controller Malia Cohen, SEIU CA, California Teachers Association, California Nurses Association,National Union of Healthcare Workers, Working Families Party, California Young Democrats, National Women’s Political Caucus, Iranian American Democrats of California, California Faculty Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, CWA District 9, ILWU Northern and Southern California District Councils, United Auto Workers Region 6, United Domestic Workers of America, UFCW Western States Council, UNITE HERE Local 2, Reps. Kevin Mullin, Lateefah Simon and Ro Khanna, and many more, including more than 100 state & local elected officials.

Campaign websiteKim's campaign website stated the following:JANE'S PLANS FORAffordable, AvailableInsurance for AllWe need insurance to drive to work, buy a home, or open a business. That means we need to make insurance affordable and available to all, or millions of people will be shut out of our economy. But the current insurance system is failing us. We see it in rising premiums and canceled coverage, and we feel it when insurance companies fight our claims every step of the way.In the wealthiest state in the wealthiest nation, we can do better.Here’s how:Lower CostsGuaranteed CoverageFast and Fair ClaimsLower CostsJane plans to provide Natural Disaster Insurance for All, make sure premiums actually pay for claims, create a public option for affordable auto insurance, show how insurance companies spend your money, and invest in safer homes and communities.Guaranteed CoverageJane will enforce minimum coverage standards, create a statewide coverage calculator, end price discrimination for auto insurance, and write a plan to provide Medicare for Kids.Fast and Fair ClaimsJane will freeze the rates after you file a claim, penalize delays to speed up payments, make sure insurers pay disaster survivors immediately, launch market conduct examinations to hold bad actors accountable, and create a public insurer performance dashboard.— Jane Kim's campaign website (March 12, 2026)Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

Campaign ads

Jane Kim for California Insurance Commissioner - Jane Kim campaign ad, released January 21, 2026

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Kim's 2018 campaign website highlighted the following campaign themes:[50]

Jane Kim is a proven progressive leader who is committed to making San Francisco work for all of us.

San Francisco is home to innovation, and it will require big ideas and an innovative mind to address our cities most pressing issues.

In this election, we have the opportunity to make San Francisco a beacon for the nation. We are not only a progressive city, we have the resources to implement progressive policies which invest in people and infrastructure to create fundamental change. With courageous leadership and vision, we can demonstrate what a city which invests in childcare, education and housing looks like as Washington DC continues to divest from communities and dismantle programs which strengthen our working and middle class.

Jane has a plan to make San Francisco work for all of us

As our Mayor she will:

Declare an immediate State of Emergency on homelessness – ensuring that Sacramento takes up the fight alongside us to end homelessness in San Francisco and across California

Create universal early childhood education to provide families with high quality care, close our achievement gap and invest in a productive workforce which includes women

Place a moratorium on unfair evictions to keep people in their homes, instead of kicked onto our streets while we address San Francisco’s eviction crisis

San Francisco Loves Clean Streets

Jane Kim understands that waste on our streets isn’t just an eyesore, it’s an economic and environmental disaster and a public health crisis waiting to happen. As a Supervisor, she has pushed for additional funding to step-up street cleaning this year and as our next Mayor, she will implement an aggressive plan to clean our streets.

Over the last three years, there has been a sharp uptake in reports of trash, feces, needles, glass and other materials on our street. Data compiled by the city indicates this problem has gotten worse over the last three years with 311 service requests more than doubling.

Her San Francisco Loves Clean Streets plan includes three immediate steps to address this problem:

Partner with non-profit group and Community Benefit Districts to greatly expand deployment of Neighborhood Streets Team which employ homeless individuals to help clean the streets while providing them with job training skills and housing income.

Double the number of “Pit Stops” in high problem areas to reduce public urination and defecation and cut the risk of disease.

Double the number of street cleaners. Cities like Hong Kong have thousands of street cleaners. San Francisco has 285. We can do better and have the resources to do so.

In the longer term, she will appoint a Clean Streets Director and work with business leaders, non-profits, city agencies and community health experts to put in place the preventative and enforcement measures to stop public street disposal. Read more about San Francisco Loves Clean Streets.

Jane Kim has fought for our city because she loves our city – and she knows San Francisco won’t be the place we all know and love if city government doesn’t work for all of us.[51]