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Merritt Farren Republican

Running for Insurance Commissioner

Official statement

Self-written ballot statement from the CA Secretary of State voter guide.

Unusual phrasingI want to bring the customer-centric innovation I've learned to California insurance regulation.
Unusual phrasingAfter the fire, I joined the State Farm rate-increase proceedings to represent consumer interests.
Read the full statement

I'm Merritt Farren, a California wildfire survivor, former Amazon lawyer, and former head of legal, guest claims, and security operations for the Disneyland Resort. I lost my home in the Pacific Palisades fire and saw firsthand how broken our insurance system is. After the fire, I joined the State Farm rate-increase proceedings to represent consumer interests. California is in the midst of an insurance crisis. Millions of us— individuals, families, and businesses—can't get the insurance we need. Those who can are facing skyrocketing costs, and consumer treatment continues to worsen. How's this possible? California is the world's great center of innovative problem solving. Our private sector is second to none. Yet when it comes to insurance reform, our government has failed us. I have experience at two of the world's most innovative, customer-centric companies: Amazon and Disney. Both understand that putting the customer first doesn't limit success; it's the best way to drive it. I want to bring the customer-centric innovation I've learned to California insurance regulation. Not incremental change around the edges. Real reform. Reform that expands your insurance options, lowers your costs, and keeps your family safe. Elect me as Insurance Commissioner, and you'll see the bold thinking and decisive action we need—in home, health, business, and auto insurance. Oh, and I define myself as a California Values candidate. I value most what Californians value most: optimism, creativity, personal responsibility, safety for our communities, individual liberties, and compassion for others. Thanks, Merritt

Election history

Appears in 1 prior election.

2026
Ran
See also: California Insurance Commissioner election, 2026 General election The primary will occur on June 2, 2026.

Where they stand

Issues their published 2026 campaign themes engage with. Click an issue to compare positions across candidates.

Mentions Healthcare
…saster that destroyed my community and will work insurance line by insurance line in home, auto, business and health insurance to expose and attack the underlying costs that are driving insurance prices up. What areas of…
Mentions Education
…tions were camping vacations in our beautiful State Parks and I attended terrific public schools through high school. University was at Stanford and I received my law degree at UC Berkeley. After I lost my home in the Pa…
Full notes (markdown source)

Merritt Farren

Office sought: Insurance Commissioner
Party: Republican
Ballot designation: Current Job

Background

Biography. Merritt Farren graduated from El Camino Real High School. Farren earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University in 1982 and a graduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1985. Farren’s career experience includes working as an attorney. [1]

Prior offices and election history

2026

See also: California Insurance Commissioner election, 2026 General election The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary. The candidate list in this election may not be complete. Nonpartisan primary Nonpartisan primary election for California Commissioner of Insurance The following candidates are running in the primary for California Commissioner of Insurance on June 2, 2026. Candidate Ben Allen (D) Steven Bradford (D) Jane Kim (D) Patrick Wolff (D) Submit photo Eric Aarnio (R) Merritt Farren (R) Robert P. Howell (R) Stacy Korsgaden (R) Sean Lee (R) Keith Davis (American Independent Party) Eduardo Vargas (Peace and Freedom Party) There are no incumbents in this race. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2026 — Endorsements

Farren received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here . CalMatters Voter Guide (Sway voting group by CalMatters) iVoterGuide California (Sway voting group by iVoterGuide)

Issue positions (campaign themes)

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses See also: Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Merritt Farren completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Farren’s responses. Expand all | Collapse all Who are you? Tell us about yourself. I’m a Pacific Palisades fire survivor, an executive with over 30 years of experience at Disney, Amazon and other companies in business, technology, and law. At Disney I served as the General Counsel of the Disneyland Resort, where oversaw Legal, Guest Claims and Security. I have the right experience, motivation and plan to fix our insurance crisis, which is threatening the financial well-being of families and businesses up and down our state. I’ve lived in California since the age of nine and love our state. My father was a navy pilot. We lived a middle-class life at a time when it was easy to lead a middle-class life in California. Family vacations were camping vacations in our beautiful State Parks and I attended terrific public schools through high school. University was at Stanford and I received my law degree at UC Berkeley. After I lost my home in the Pacific Palisades fire, I saw my community hit by a second trauma: the trauma of dealing with insurance under an insurance system that’s completely broken for consumers and insurance companies - and I jumped into the State Farm rate increase proceedings as a official consumer advocate. Since then I’ve worked non-stop on solutions to our insurance crisis. If elected Insurance Commissioner, I’ll bring the Dept of Insurance up to the customer centric standards of innovation and performance I lived every day at Disney and Amazon. 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 was motivated to enter the State Farm rate proceedings to demonstrate to my two sons that the best way to deal with tragedy is not just to survive it, but to create positive change that protects others from what you’ve just faced. My participation in the proceedings brought me into the world of insurance problems and caused me to start working with insurance industry experts to find solutions to the insurance crisis we are in. My plan to fix our crisis has three parts: 1. I’ll lead a technology centric reinvention of our insurance regulations to bring consumers more insurance options at prices they can afford. We need big, from the ground up reform of the kind created by the teams I was on at Amazon, including the team that launched Kindle and eBooks. The reforms will recognize that our rules need to work for both consumers and insurers. The rules we have today don’t work for either. 2. I’ll implement CAL Reinsure – a plan I’ve developed with insurance industry input to eliminate the need for Fair Plan. Cal Reinsure will move community fire risk off the backs of insurers and onto a reinsurance authority organized by the State. Cal Reinsure is modeled on a program Florida implemented to address hurricane risk and a program the UK implemented to address flood risk . It will also speed payments to those who suffer a community fire loss by requiring payment of the full amount of insurance signed up for within 30 days of a total loss of a home or business structure. 3. As Commissioner I’ll establish standards for counties and cities for fire safety to avoid a repeat of the disaster that destroyed my community and will work insurance line by insurance line in home, auto, business and health insurance to expose and attack the underlying costs that are driving insurance prices up. What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? I’m passionate about consumer protection and businesses that put customers first. I come from two of the world’s most customer centric companies - Amazon and Disney - companies that know that the best way to do well financially is to do well by consumers. That’s the mindset I’ll bring to the Department of Insurance to bring insurance companies back into our state and bring consumers more insurance options at lower cost. I’m also passionate about innovation. California is the world’s greatest center for innovation. We need to bring the innovation our private sector companies excel at into our government sector and make California the worldwide leader in insurance thought and reform it ought to be. Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why? I’m an enormous fan of Abraham Lincoln, who happens to be a distant relation through the Quaker ancestors on my mother’s side. I’m also a firm (if quiet) Christian (Episcopalian). The teachings of love and compassion of Jesus Christ are teachings that guide me each day. What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official? Integrity, compassion, empathy, creativity, optimism and an enormous drive to make the world a better place are must haves for our elected officials. Equally important, and something that we tragically neglect all too often in California: the background necessary to succeed in the position sought is also a must have. My entire community burned down due to massive mistakes make by individuals who took on senior leadership positions without having the requisite experience to succeed. No matter how good someone’s intentions may be, it is not realistic to believe that they will succeed if asked to function beyond their level of trained competence. For the Insurance Commissioner position, a law degree, extensive high level experience leading a legal team handling tough, high stakes matters and senior level executive experience in a demanding role in tech and innovation in private industry should be considered basic requirements. If a top flight recruiting firm were hired to staff the role, it would consider that experience essential. What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office? California’s Insurance Commission

Enrichment source: Ballotpedia — https://ballotpedia.org/Merritt_Farren

Sources