SLO County agent emerges as one of top vote-getters for CA insurance commissioner
.jpg "San Luis Obispo County insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden is running for California insurance commissioner in 2026.")
A longtime San Luis Obispo County insurance agent who’s running to be California’s next insurance commissioner was sitting in third place for the statewide seat on Wednesday.
Out of 11 candidates, Grover Beach resident and Republican Stacy Korsgaden had nabbed 17.5% of the vote and was closely trailing behind State Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, who’s in second place with 19.2%.
Jane Kim, a Democrat and former San Francisco supervisor, is the current top-vote getter with 23.7% as of 4:44 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
The top-two finishers will move on to the November election.
Korsgaden told The Tribune Wednesday that, “the race is not over yet, and we do see a path forward,” adding that she expected a better vote update on Friday.
The state insurance commissioner is in charge of regulating California’s property insurance market — the largest in the nation — including approving home and auto rate increases and upholding consumer protections.
The job has taken on more significance after several major insurers stopped issuing new homeowners policies in California following years of destructive wildfires, compounded by climate change.
Korsgaden has run an insurance agency in SLO County since 1988 and received a boost in the race when the California Republican Party endorsed her earlier this year.
If elected, she said her priorities would be to rebuild confidence in the state’s insurance market by promoting innovation and increased competition.
“Lowering the insurable risk is essential to lowering insurance costs,” she said in a news release. “I will restore competition so that carriers can compete for your business, expand affordable options, crack down on fraud, and bring accountability and common sense back to the Department of Insurance.”
The commissioner’s race is not the first time Korsgaden has run for public office. She narrowly lost a bid for the District 3 San Luis Obispo County supervisor seat in March 2020.
She also drew attention shortly after when she attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C.
At the time, she told The Tribune that she was “not ashamed of the fact” of her attendance and that it was a “peaceful and joyous” walk toward the Capitol. She said she went to the rally due to “election integrity” concerns.
Korsgaden said she was “mortified” and adamantly opposed to the violence that occurred, resulting in several deaths. She previously told The Tribune she did not witness any of the mob’s storming of the Capitol building.
On Tuesday, she said her current third-place slot in the race was a sign that voters were seeking someone with expansive experience and understanding of the insurance market, especially in the face of dwindling coverage options and rising costs.
“I asked Californians to vote today for a competitive, functioning market: one that brings insurers back, expands choice, lowers premiums for working families and small businesses, and rewards real wildfire mitigation,” she said in a Tuesday release. “An insurable California is within reach.”
