Our View: Four more statewide races await voters' top-two candidate picks

Last Saturday, The Californian highlighted four statewide office races that will be on the June 2 primary ballot. Today, four more statewide races appear. The basis for the newspaper's recommendation in each race is a candidate's prior public service and demonstrated abilities. The goal is to have the two strongest candidates in each race compete in the November general election.

California's "jungle" primary system places all candidates who qualify to run for a single statewide office on the same ballot. All voters receive ballots containing the same list of statewide candidates. The two candidates in each race who receive the most votes advance to the runoff.

Insurance commissioner

Last year, a massive fire clawed its way through more than 250,000 acres in Los Angeles County, killing at least 31 people and destroying more than 16,000 homes. Those flames continue to burn hot in the race to elect a new state insurance commissioner.

Elected to head the California Department of Insurance, which oversees regulation of the insurance industry, the nonpartisan insurance commissioner position was created by voters when in 1988 they passed Proposition 103, a reform initiative addressing consumer complaints about insurance rates and coverage. The same complaints have continued about insurance company claim denials and delays after the Los Angeles fire and other disasters. The withdrawal of insurers from the California market is also concerning.

The current insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, is termed out. Eleven candidates are competing in the primary to replace him. They are Democrats Ben Allen, Steven Bradford, Jane Kim and Patrick Wolff; Republicans Eric Thor Aarnio, Merritt Farren, Robert Howell, Stacy Korsgaden and Sean Lee; American Independent candidate Keith Davis; and Peace and Freedom candidate Eduardo Vargas. Allen and Farren are the best candidates to advance to the November runoff.

Allen is a state senator representing the 24th District, which includes Pacific Palisades and other parts of Los Angeles County hit by last year's fire. Earlier this year, Allen joined with Alhambra Sen. Sasha Renee Perez in calling for an investigation of the state Insurance Department's handling of victims' complaints. Allen contends the department needs to be more responsive, more transparent and better-equipped. He says he was prompted to run for commissioner when the wildfires hit his district.

First elected in 2014, Allen is now serving his third Senate term. He chairs the Senate's Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection, and Energy; co-chairs the Legislature's Environmental Caucus; is a member of the Legislative Jewish Caucus; and chairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Arts, and the Senate Select Committee on Aerospace and Defense. He has authored nearly 60 new laws in various areas, from environmental protection to electoral reform.

Allen grew up in the 24th Senate District and attended public schools, graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1996. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served as president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education, lecturer at UCLA Law School, and practiced private law. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard University; a master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge; and a law degree from U.C. Berkeley.

The son of a Navy pilot, Farren has lived in California since the age of 9. He attended public schools before earning a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a law degree from U.C. Berkeley. He built his career in business, technology and law at Disney, where he rose to senior vice president and general counsel of Disneyland Resort, overseeing legal, guest claims and security; and at Amazon, as associate general counsel for media and new technologies. He also held senior roles in corporate development at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Farren proposes to lead a technology-centric reinvention of the state's insurance regulations - overhauling outdated rules from the ground up and using modern technology.

Farren, who is a victim of last year's devastating Los Angeles fires, told the news outlet CalMatters, "When my family home burned in the Palisades fire last year, my community suffered a second trauma - navigating a completely broken insurance system that fails consumers and insurers. Premiums are skyrocketing, coverage is disappearing and claims handling too often adds insult to injury, rather than assistance."

Both Allen and Farren have first-hand knowledge of the state's Department of Insurance and the industry it is supposed to regulate. They have unique perspectives that will give November general election voters clear choices.

Controller

The controller is the state's chief fiscal officer and accountant, who is responsible for tracking, protecting and reporting on California's money, making sure it's spent correctly and transparently. The three candidates competing for controller are Democratic incumbent Malia Cohen, Republican Herb Morgan and Meghann Adams, Peace and Freedom party. Cohen and Morgan are the two best candidates to compete in November.

Cohen was elected state controller in 2022 after serving a four-year term on the state Board of Equalization. Before that, she served on the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco. As a supervisor, she chaired the Budget and Finance Committee and the Audit and Oversight Committee. Born and raised in San Francisco, Cohen attended public schools. She received her bachelor's degree in political science from Fisk University and a master's degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University. Her reelection as controller is endorsed by the state Democratic Party.

Arriving in California on his first birthday, Morgan has deep roots in the state, where he has advanced his career in finance after earning a degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has nearly four decades of experience in financial markets and founded Efficient Market Advisors, which grew to manage $1.5 billion in assets before it was acquired by a Wall Street firm, where he now serves as chief investment officer. In 2009, he was appointed to the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System Board. Morgan is endorsed by the state Republican Party.

Superintendent of public instruction

The state superintendent of public instruction is the top official in charge of California's public school system. While individual schools are operated by local districts, the nonpartisan superintendent implements state education policies, oversees the Department of Education, enforces rules and ensures funding and standards are applied statewide. The superintendent shares power with a governor-appointed State Board of Education, which sets education policy, adopts academic standards, curriculum and testing systems, and decides accountability and school performance issues.

With Superintendent Tony Thurmond termed out of office after serving eight years, 10 candidates are competing in the primary to replace him. They are Anthony Rendon, Sonja Shaw, Richard Barrera, Al Muratsuchi, Josh Newman, Nichelle Henderson, Frank Lara, Wendy Castaneda Leal, Ainye Long and Gus Mattammal. The top two candidates who should advance to the November runoff election are Rendon and Shaw.

California schools are at the center of such ongoing controversies as the use of tax dollars to support private schools, empowerment of parents, gender dysphoria and separation of church and state. The "culture wars" are being fought on public school campuses. Rendon and Shaw will give voters a contrasting choice as to what California's educational future should be.

A native Californian who holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Cal State Fullerton, a doctorate in political science from UC Riverside and completed post-doctoral work at Boston University, Democrat Rendon was elected to represent a Los Angeles County Assembly district in 2012. He explains he was motivated to run for the Legislature to reverse budget cuts to early childhood education programs imposed by then Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. From 2016 to 2023, Rendon served as speaker of the Assembly.

Before running for elective office, Rendon was the executive director of Plaza de la Raza Child Development Services, an organization that provides child development and social and medical services throughout Los Angeles County. Rendon touts his expertise in educational policy as the foundation for his campaign for superintendent. In addition, as voters in November selected a new governor this year, he says his legislative experience will be crucial, especially if the new governor inherits greater control over the state's public schools as Gov. Gavin Newsom now is proposing.

The wife of a construction manager and mother of two daughters, the conservative Republican Shaw was born and raised in Chino. Although she does not have a college degree, before getting involved in politics, she operated two community businesses - fitness training and photography. She also sold real estate. She says she was inspired to get involved in local schools during the pandemic shutdown, when she saw the need for parents to have a stronger voice in their children's educations.

Shaw organized a group of mothers to attend Chino Valley Unified School District board meetings and then successfully ran in 2022 for a seat on the board. She served three years as board president. Her present term expires this year. Leading the board, Shaw has aggressively challenged state education policies regarding parental rights, curriculum and reading choices and LGBTQ+ related issues. Critics, including the Chino Valley Defenders of Public Education, contend Shaw and the board's approach is too focused on cultural wedge issues and fearmongering about trans athletes.

On her campaign website, Shaw contends "classrooms are becoming battlegrounds for radical agendas, pushing divisive content that overshadows core education." Although this is a nonpartisan office, the Republican Party and the California chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative, parental rights movement, have endorsed Shaw

Board of Equalization, District 1

California is divided into four Board of Equalization districts, with District 1 including Kern County. The board is the oversight and appeals body for property tax issues and disputes. Five candidates are competing to replace termed-out board member Ted Gaines, a Republican. The candidates are Republicans Shannon Grove, Dusty Beach and Nader Shahakit; and Democrats Nelson Esparza and Donald Williamson. Grove and Esparza are the best two candidates to compete in the November runoff.

Born and raised in Kern County, Grove joined the Army after graduation from high school. Following her service, she established the staffing company Continental Labor and Staffing Resources with her sister-in-law. She currently serves as the CEO of the business.

Grove represented the 34th District, which includes Bakersfield, in the Assembly from 2010 to 2016. In 2018, she was elected to represent the 16th Senate District and served as leader of the Senate Republican Caucus. In 2022, she was elected to represent the newly-drawn 12th State Senate district. which includes Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties.

Raised in the Central Valley by a single mother and extended family, Esparza's community service includes his 2016 election to the Fresno County Board of Education. In 2018, he was elected to the Fresno City Council, where he currently is serving his second term and is chairman of the Finance & Audit Committee, the EIFD Public Financing Authority and the School Liaison Subcommittee. He is also a board member of the Fresno County Economic Development Corp.

For nearly a decade, Esparza has taught economics at Fresno City College and is PAC chairman of the State Center Federation of Teachers, Local 1533. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UC Riverside and a master's of public policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

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