California, Georgia, Kansas, and Oklahoma are holding direct elections for state insurance commissioner this year. Republicans hold three of these offices, and Democrats hold one. In 32 states, the control of the insurance commission office will be decided indirectly, based on the results of the gubernatorial and state legislative elections. In those states, the governor or state legislature chooses the insurance commissioner.
All 50 states have an insurance commissioner, though the position is directly elected in only 11 states. Of all directly elected commissioners, Republicans hold eight, Democrats hold three, with the remaining 39 commissioners identified as nonpartisan.
The commissioner serves as the chief regulator of insurance markets in the state. The duties of the position vary from state to state, but their general role is as a consumer protection advocate and insurance regulator.
Battlegrounds
Ballotpedia identified one race as a battleground election.
California: Ben Allen (D) and Jane Kim (D) are running in the first Democratic vs. Democratic insurance commissioner election in state history. Wildfires and home insurance rates are among the issues in the race.
Key trends to watch
Ideological differences: In addition to Democratic vs. Republican elections, different factions of Democrats have endorsed in California, with the Democratic Party of California endorsing Allen, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsing Kim.
The role of housing prices: Insurance Business Magazine's Matthew Seller wrote that rising home insurance premiums across the country have become an issue in the elections, writing that the four states "happened to record meaningful 2025 rate increases: 24% in Oklahoma, 15% in Kansas, 9% in Georgia and 5% in California, according to Insurify. That combination is why analysts increasingly rank these particular down-ballot races among the ones most likely to actually move future premiums."
Recent election history
The last time insurance commissioner offices switched partisan control was in 2016 in Montana and North Carolina. In Montana, Matt Rosendale (R) defeated Jesse Laslovich (D) in an open race. In North Carolina, Mike Causey (R) defeated incumbent Wayne Goodwin (D). The last time any of the four insurance commissioner offices up for election this year switched partisan control was in 2010, in California and Oklahoma. In California, Dave Jones (D) defeated Mike Villines (R) in an open race. In Oklahoma, John Doak (R) defeated incumbent Kim Holland (D).
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