# 2018 California Insurance Commissioner election

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vte :
The 2018 California Insurance Commissioner election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Insurance Commissioner of California. Under California's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to the general election in November, even if a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election.
Incumbent Democratic commissioner Dave Jones was term-limited and could not seek a third term.

## Primary election
### Democratic Party
#### Declared

* Ricardo Lara, state senator
* Asif Mahmood, pulmonologist

#### Declined

* Susan Bonilla, former state assemblywoman
* Tony Mendoza, state senator

### No party preference
#### Declared

* Steve Poizner, former Republican California Insurance Commissioner (2007–2011)

### Peace and Freedom Party
#### Declared

* Nathalie Hrizi, teacher and 2014 candidate for Insurance Commissioner

### Endorsements

Federal-level officials
* Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator (D-CA)
* Jimmy Gomez, U.S. Representative (D-CA-34)
* Karen Bass, U.S. Representative (D-CA-37)
* Salud Carbajal, U.S. Representative (D-CA-24)
* Ted Lieu, U.S. Representative (D-CA-33)
* Alan Lowenthal, U.S. Representative (D-CA-47)
* Lou Correa, U.S. Representative (D-CA-46)
* Julia Brownley, U.S. Representative (D-CA-26)
State-level Officials
* Jerry Brown, Governor of California
* Kevin de León, President pro tempore of the California State Senate and candidate for United States Senate
* Toni Atkins, President pro tempore of the California State Senate (D-39)
* Robert Hertzberg, California State Senator (D-18)
* Ben Hueso, California State Senator (D-40)
* Tony Mendoza, former California State Senator
* Holly Mitchell, California State Senator (D-30)
* Scott Wiener, California State Senator (D-11)
* Ed Hernandez, California State Senator (D-22)
* Steven Bradford, California State Senator (D-35)
* Hannah-Beth Jackson, California State Senator (D-19)
* Nancy Skinner, California State Senator (D-9)
* Ben Allen, California State Senator (D-26)
* Bill Monning, California State Senator (D-17)
* Henry Stern, California State Senator (D-27)
* Josh Newman, former California State Senator
* Cathleen Galgiani, California State Senator (D-5)
* Bill Dodd, California State Senator (D-3)
* Richard Roth, California State Senator (D-31)
* Jerry Hill, California State Senator (D-13)
* Bob Wieckowski, California State Senator (D-10)
* Mike McGuire, California State Senator (D-2)
* Anthony Portantino, California State Senator (D-25)
* Mark Leno, former California State Senator
* Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the California State Assembly
* Fabian Nunez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly
* John Pérez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly
* Eduardo Garcia, California State Assemblymember (D-56)
* Jacqui Irwin, California State Assemblymember (D-44)
* Blanca Rubio, California State Assemblymember (D-48)
* Miguel Santiago, California State Assemblymember (D-53)
* Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, California State Assemblymember (D-80)
* Todd Gloria, California State Assemblymember (D-78)
* Evan Low, California State Assemblymember (D-28)
* Tony Thurmond, California State Assemblymember (D-15)
* Shirley Weber, California State Assemblymember (D-79)
* Kevin McCarty, California State Assemblymember (D-7)
* Reggie Jones-Sawyer, California State Assemblymember (D-59)
* Freddie Rodriguez, California State Assemblymember (D-52)
* David Chiu, California State Assemblymember (D-17)
* Ash Kalra, California State Assemblymember (D-27)
* Monique Limon, California State Assemblymember (D-37)
* Jim Frazier, California State Assemblymember (D-11)
* Kansen Chu, California State Assemblymember (D-25)
* Ed Chau, California State Assemblymember (D-49)
* Chris Holden, California State Assemblymember (D-41)
* Joaquin Arambula, California State Assemblymember (D-31)
* Jim Cooper, California State Assemblymember (D-9)
* Jose Medina, California State Assemblymember (D-61)
* Eloise Reyes, California State Assemblymember (D-47)
* Susan Eggman, California State Assemblymember (D-13)
* Phil Ting, California State Assemblymember (D-19)
* Kevin Mullin, California State Assemblymember (D-22)
* Raul Bocanegra, former California State Assemblymember
* Rudy Salas, California State Assemblymember (D-32)
* Autumn Burke, California State Assemblymember (D-62)
* Bill Quirk, California State Assemblymember (D-20)
* Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, California State Assemblymember (D-54)
* Susan Bonilla, former California State Assemblymember
* Fiona Ma, Chair of the California State Board of Equalization
* Tom Torlakson, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Local-level officials
* Robert Garcia, Mayor of Long Beach
* Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento
* Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
* Ed Lee, Mayor of San Francisco (deceased)
* Janice Hahn, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
* Hilda Solis, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Organizations
* National Union of Healthcare Workers
* California Nurses Association/California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
* UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO
* California Teachers Association
Newspapers
* Los Angeles Times
* The San Diego Union-Tribune
* The Mercury News
* The East Bay Times
* The San Francisco Chronicle
* The Sacramento Bee
* The Modesto Bee
* The Marin Independent Journal
* Red Bluff Daily News
* The Malibu Times
* The San Luis Obispo Tribune
* The Madera Tribune
* Insurance News Net
International-level officials
* William H. Draper, former Administrator of the U.N. Development Programme
Federal-level officials
* Jim Blew, Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Analysis
* Frank Baxter, former U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay (Republican)
* George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State (Republican)
State-level officials
* Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California (Republican)
* John Kasich, Governor of Ohio (Republican)
* Bill Emmerson, former California State Senator (R-23)
* Don Sebastiani, former California State Assemblyman (R-8)
Local-level officials
* Richard J. Riordan, former Mayor of Los Angeles (Republican)
* Carl DeMaio, radio host and former San Diego city councilman (Republican)
* Mark Tseneishi, Torrance traffic commissioner (Republican)
* Bradley Tusk, former spokesperson for the New York City Parks Department
Individuals
* Donald Friese, businessman
* Robert Day, businessman and philanthropist
* Paul Jacobs, businessman
* Bradford M. Freeman, businessman and conservative donor
* Floyd Kvamme, businessman and former advisor to George W. Bush and Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Kelly Roberts, businesswoman, philanthropist, and former advisor to Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican)
* David Crane, lecturer at Stanford University and president of Govern for California (Democratic)
* Merrill Newman, businessman and veteran
* Malin Burnham, businessman and former sailboat racer
* Eli Broad, entrepreneur and philanthropist
* Sherry Lansing, actress, film studio executive, and philanthropist
* Doug Wick, film producer
* Greg Lucier, businessman
* John Altschuler, film producer and writer
* Robert Shillman, businessman
* James Easton, businessman, philanthropist, and archer
* Robert C. Kagle, businessman
* Howard F. Ahmanson, businessman (Democratic)
* Joseph W. Saunders, chairman of Teach for All
* Larry Sonsini, corporate lawyer and venture capitalist
* David Horowitz, conservative writer
* Paul Haaga, chairman of NPR
* Tom Edmonds, member of the Kern County Republican Central Committee (Republican)
* Franklin P. Johnson, businessman (Republican)
* David Marquardt, venture capitalist
* Michael G. McCaffery, businessman
* Daniel Schnur, former director of communications for Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Jack Dangermond, businessman and environmental scientist
* Samuel Ginn, businessman
* A.C. Markkula, businessman
* Greg Penner, businessman
* Carrie Penner, educator and businesswoman
* Diane Wilsey, socialite and philanthropist
* Jeremy Stoppelman, businessman
* John Sculley, businessman
* Nicholas J. Pritzker, entrepreneur
* Jeffrey Henley, businessman
* Carl Berg, businessman
* Matt Cohler, venture capitalist
* John J. Fisher, businessman (Republican)
* Doris F. Fisher, businesswoman
* William S. Fisher, investor and philanthropist
* Alex Spanos, businessman and majority owner of the Los Angeles Chargers
Organizations
* Unite America
* California Association of Pest Control Advisers
* Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
* Sierra Pacific Industries
* American Pistachio Growers of California
* Molina Healthcare
* Prime Healthcare Services
* New Majority
* Family Business PAC
* California Business Properties Association
* Blue Lake Rancheria
* Din Tai Fung
* Lincoln Club of Orange County
* Lincoln Club of Northern California
* Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers
* California Real Estate PAC
Federal-level officials
* Ted Lieu, U.S. Representative (D-CA-33)
* Judy Chu, U.S. Representative (D-CA-27)
* Brad Sherman, U.S. Representative (D-CA-30)
* Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative (D-CA-17)
State-level officials
* Betty Yee, California State Controller
* Chris Holden, California State Assemblyman (D-41)
Local-level officials
* Michael Tubbs, Mayor of Stockton
* Terry Tornek, Mayor of Pasadena
* David Ryu, Los Angeles City Councilman
Individuals
* Basim Elkarra, activist and California Democratic Party official
Newspapers
* San Francisco Bay View

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Ricardo Lara (D) | Asif Mahmood (D) | Steve Poizner (NPP) | Nathalie Hrizi (PFP) | Undecided |
| Gravis Marketing | May 4–5, 2018 | 525 | 18% | 7% | 26% | 6% | 43% |
| Probolsky Research | April 16–18, 2018 | 900 | 14% | 6% | 21% | 6% | 53% |
| Sexton Strategies and Research (D-Mahmood) | March 24–27, 2018 | 800 | 18% | 18% | 49% | – | 15% |

### Results

Nonpartisan blanket primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | No party preference | Steve Poizner | 2,569,254 | 41.0% |
| | Democratic | Ricardo Lara | 2,538,478 | 40.5% |
| | Democratic | Asif Mahmood | 846,023 | 13.5% |
| | Peace and Freedom | Nathalie Hrizi | 316,149 | 5.0% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,269,904 | 100% |

#### Results by county

Primary results by county. Gray represents counties won by Poizner. Blue represents counties won by Lara.
| County | Hrizi (PFP) | Hrizi (PFP) | Lara (D) | Lara (D) | Mahmood (D) | Mahmood (D) | Poizner (NPP) | Poizner (NPP) |
| County | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Alameda | 17,147 | 5.8% | 133,124 | 45.0% | 58,868 | 19.9% | 86,517 | 29.3% |
| Alpine | 14 | 3.9% | 148 | 41.5% | 52 | 14.6% | 143 | 40.1% |
| Amador | 612 | 5.3% | 2,580 | 22.3% | 1,403 | 12.1% | 6,961 | 60.2% |
| Butte | 3,355 | 6.9% | 14,716 | 30.3% | 6,888 | 14.2% | 23,637 | 48.6% |
| Calaveras | 763 | 5.5% | 3,100 | 22.3% | 1,665 | 12.0% | 8,373 | 60.2% |
| Colusa | 177 | 5.8% | 797 | 26.0% | 341 | 11.1% | 1,751 | 57.1% |
| Contra Costa | 11,081 | 5.2% | 77,385 | 36.2% | 32,203 | 15.1% | 92,885 | 43.5% |
| Del Norte | 367 | 7.8% | 1,527 | 32.6% | 509 | 10.9% | 2,275 | 48.6% |
| El Dorado | 2,385 | 4.8% | 12,415 | 24.9% | 6,077 | 12.2% | 28,890 | 58.1% |
| Fresno | 6,786 | 5.7% | 41,331 | 35.0% | 13,866 | 11.7% | 56,205 | 47.6% |
| Glenn | 300 | 6.9% | 891 | 20.5% | 411 | 9.5% | 2,741 | 63.1% |
| Humboldt | 2,052 | 7.6% | 11,995 | 44.2% | 4,734 | 17.4% | 8,383 | 30.9% |
| Imperial | 808 | 4.6% | 9,841 | 55.6% | 1,547 | 8.7% | 5,488 | 31.0% |
| Inyo | 346 | 7.1% | 1,541 | 31.6% | 559 | 11.5% | 2,431 | 49.8% |
| Kern | 5,398 | 5.1% | 30,758 | 28.8% | 8,401 | 7.9% | 62,207 | 58.3% |
| Kings | 636 | 4.3% | 4,332 | 29.2% | 1,286 | 8.7% | 8,570 | 57.8% |
| Lake | 758 | 6.2% | 3,749 | 30.4% | 2,148 | 17.4% | 5,658 | 46.0% |
| Lassen | 497 | 9.4% | 1,186 | 22.5% | 415 | 7.9% | 3,164 | 60.1% |
| Los Angeles | 61,597 | 4.7% | 697,795 | 53.6% | 167,348 | 12.8% | 375,658 | 28.8% |
| Madera | 989 | 4.6% | 6,066 | 28.0% | 1,772 | 8.2% | 12,814 | 58.2% |
| Marin | 2,919 | 4.0% | 31,388 | 42.6% | 12,091 | 16.4% | 27,200 | 37.0% |
| Mariposa | 332 | 6.0% | 1,440 | 26.2% | 483 | 8.8% | 3,237 | 58.9% |
| Mendocino | 1,460 | 7.8% | 7,776 | 41.5% | 3,992 | 21.3% | 5,488 | 29.3% |
| Merced | 1,547 | 5.4% | 11,275 | 39.3% | 2,411 | 8.4% | 13,484 | 47.0% |
| Modoc | 231 | 10.1% | 474 | 20.6% | 221 | 9.6 | 1,372 | 59.7% |
| Mono | 165 | 5.6% | 1,109 | 38.0% | 372 | 12.7% | 1,276 | 43.7% |
| Monterey | 2,479 | 4.5% | 30,645 | 50.9% | 5,535 | 9.2% | 21,511 | 35.8% |
| Napa | 1,439 | 4.5% | 10,671 | 33.2% | 6,464 | 20.1% | 13,554 | 42.25% |
| Nevada | 1,822 | 5.5% | 9,958 | 30.0% | 6,188 | 18.6% | 15,221 | 45.9% |
| Orange | 23,160 | 4.2% | 188,970 | 34.1% | 61,759 | 11.1% | 280,356 | 50.6% |
| Placer | 5,102 | 5.3% | 25,945 | 26.8% | 11,515 | 11.9% | 54,208 | 56.0% |
| Plumas | 374 | 6.6% | 1,372 | 24.4% | 925 | 16.4% | 2,957 | 52.5% |
| Riverside | 13,804 | 4.5% | 108,203 | 35.1% | 32,895 | 10.7% | 153,157 | 49.7% |
| Sacramento | 12,183 | 4.4% | 101,947 | 36.5% | 43,282 | 15.5% | 121,841 | 43.6% |
| San Benito | 635 | 5.7% | 4,647 | 42.0% | 1,131 | 10.2% | 4,654 | 42.1% |
| San Bernardino | 12,723 | 5.0% | 90,705 | 35.7% | 26,223 | 10.3% | 124,324 | 49.0% |
| San Diego | 23,397 | 3.9% | 236,429 | 39.2% | 77,311 | 12.8% | 266,318 | 44.1% |
| San Francisco | 29,487 | 14.1% | 85,107 | 40.8% | 33,001 | 15.8% | 61,044 | 29.3% |
| San Joaquin | 5,427 | 5.5% | 34,626 | 35.3% | 13,673 | 13.9% | 44,395 | 45.2% |
| San Luis Obispo | 3,998 | 5.2% | 25,898 | 34.0% | 9,912 | 13.0% | 36,411 | 47.8% |
| San Mateo | 6,436 | 4.2% | 63,588 | 42.0% | 25,588 | 16.9% | 55,930 | 36.9% |
| Santa Barbara | 3,374 | 4.2% | 33,840 | 42.1% | 9,821 | 12.2% | 33,303 | 41.5% |
| Santa Clara | 12,742 | 4.0% | 122,582 | 38.2% | 54,958 | 17.1% | 130,320 | 40.6% |
| Santa Cruz | 3,373 | 5.2% | 31,192 | 48.3% | 10,239 | 15.9% | 19,728 | 30.6% |
| Shasta | 2,626 | 6.3% | 8,153 | 19.7% | 3,593 | 8.7% | 27,077 | 65.3% |
| Sierra | 108 | 8.9% | 311 | 25.6% | 167 | 13.8% | 627 | 51.7% |
| Siskiyou | 705 | 6.9% | 2,802 | 27.6% | 1,121 | 11.0% | 5,523 | 54.4% |
| Solano | 4,310 | 5.8% | 28,514 | 38.4% | 12,225 | 16.4% | 29,277 | 39.4% |
| Sonoma | 5,550 | 4.7% | 52,719 | 45.0% | 22,399 | 19.1% | 36,463 | 31.1% |
| Stanislaus | 3,755 | 4.7% | 26,116 | 32.8% | 10,487 | 13.2% | 39,346 | 49.4% |
| Sutter | 1,187 | 6.4% | 4,277 | 23.2% | 2,694 | 14.6% | 10,258 | 55.7% |
| Tehama | 1,024 | 8.0% | 2,645 | 20.7% | 1,087 | 8.5% | 8,042 | 62.8% |
| Trinity | 382 | 11.1% | 1,031 | 30.0% | 490 | 14.2% | 1,536 | 44.7% |
| Tulare | 2,568 | 5.1% | 16,495 | 32.4% | 3,615 | 7.1% | 28,167 | 55.4% |
| Tuolumne | 811 | 5.8% | 3,464 | 24.8% | 1,865 | 13.3% | 7,843 | 56.1% |
| Ventura | 5,875 | 4.0% | 57,286 | 38.7% | 16,715 | 11.3% | 68,059 | 46.0% |
| Yolo | 1,777 | 4.3% | 17,219 | 41.5% | 7,799 | 18.8% | 14,688 | 35.4% |
| Yuba | 786 | 7.3% | 2,382 | 22.2% | 1,283 | 12.0% | 6,274 | 58.5% |
| Totals | 316,149 | 5.0% | 2,538,478 | 40.5% | 846,023 | 13.5% | 2,569,254 | 41.0% |

## General election
### Endorsements

Federal-level officials
* Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator (D-CA)
* Jimmy Gomez, U.S. Representative (D-CA-34)
* Karen Bass, U.S. Representative (D-CA-37)
* Salud Carbajal, U.S. Representative (D-CA-24)
* Ted Lieu, U.S. Representative (D-CA-33)
* Alan Lowenthal, U.S. Representative (D-CA-47)
* Lou Correa, U.S. Representative (D-CA-46)
* Julia Brownley, U.S. Representative (D-CA-26)
State-level Officials
* Jerry Brown, Governor of California
* Kevin de León, President pro tempore of the California State Senate and candidate for United States Senate
* Toni Atkins, President pro tempore of the California State Senate (D-39)
* Robert Hertzberg, California State Senator (D-18)
* Ben Hueso, California State Senator (D-40)
* Tony Mendoza, former California State Senator
* Holly Mitchell, California State Senator (D-30)
* Scott Wiener, California State Senator (D-11)
* Ed Hernandez, California State Senator (D-22)
* Steven Bradford, California State Senator (D-35)
* Hannah-Beth Jackson, California State Senator (D-19)
* Nancy Skinner, California State Senator (D-9)
* Ben Allen, California State Senator (D-26)
* Bill Monning, California State Senator (D-17)
* Henry Stern, California State Senator (D-27)
* Josh Newman, former California State Senator
* Cathleen Galgiani, California State Senator (D-5)
* Bill Dodd, California State Senator (D-3)
* Richard Roth, California State Senator (D-31)
* Jerry Hill, California State Senator (D-13)
* Bob Wieckowski, California State Senator (D-10)
* Mike McGuire, California State Senator (D-2)
* Anthony Portantino, California State Senator (D-25)
* Mark Leno, former California State Senator
* Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the California State Assembly
* Fabian Nunez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly
* John Pérez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly
* Eduardo Garcia, California State Assemblymember (D-56)
* Jacqui Irwin, California State Assemblymember (D-44)
* Blanca Rubio, California State Assemblymember (D-48)
* Miguel Santiago, California State Assemblymember (D-53)
* Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, California State Assemblymember (D-80)
* Todd Gloria, California State Assemblymember (D-78)
* Evan Low, California State Assemblymember (D-28)
* Tony Thurmond, California State Assemblymember (D-15)
* Shirley Weber, California State Assemblymember (D-79)
* Kevin McCarty, California State Assemblymember (D-7)
* Reggie Jones-Sawyer, California State Assemblymember (D-59)
* Freddie Rodriguez, California State Assemblymember (D-52)
* David Chiu, California State Assemblymember (D-17)
* Ash Kalra, California State Assemblymember (D-27)
* Monique Limon, California State Assemblymember (D-37)
* Jim Frazier, California State Assemblymember (D-11)
* Kansen Chu, California State Assemblymember (D-25)
* Ed Chau, California State Assemblymember (D-49)
* Chris Holden, California State Assemblymember (D-41)
* Joaquin Arambula, California State Assemblymember (D-31)
* Jim Cooper, California State Assemblymember (D-9)
* Jose Medina, California State Assemblymember (D-61)
* Eloise Reyes, California State Assemblymember (D-47)
* Susan Eggman, California State Assemblymember (D-13)
* Phil Ting, California State Assemblymember (D-19)
* Kevin Mullin, California State Assemblymember (D-22)
* Raul Bocanegra, former California State Assemblymember
* Rudy Salas, California State Assemblymember (D-32)
* Autumn Burke, California State Assemblymember (D-62)
* Bill Quirk, California State Assemblymember (D-20)
* Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, California State Assemblymember (D-54)
* Susan Bonilla, former California State Assemblymember
* Fiona Ma, Chair of the California State Board of Equalization
* Tom Torlakson, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Local-level officials
* Robert Garcia, Mayor of Long Beach
* Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento
* Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
* Ed Lee, Mayor of San Francisco (deceased)
* Janice Hahn, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
* Hilda Solis, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Organizations
* National Union of Healthcare Workers
* California Nurses Association/California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
* UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO
* California Teachers Association
Newspapers
* Los Angeles Times
* The San Diego Union-Tribune
* The Mercury News
* The East Bay Times
* The San Francisco Chronicle
* The Sacramento Bee
* The Modesto Bee
* The Marin Independent Journal
* Red Bluff Daily News
* The Malibu Times
* The San Luis Obispo Tribune
* The Madera Tribune
* Insurance News Net
International-level officials
* William H. Draper, former Administrator of the U.N. Development Programme
Federal-level officials
* Jim Blew, Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Analysis
* Frank Baxter, former U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay (Republican)
* George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State (Republican)
State-level officials
* John Kasich, Governor of Ohio (Republican)
* Bill Emmerson, former California State Senator (R-23)
* Don Sebastiani, former California State Assemblyman (R-8)
Local-level officials
* Richard J. Riordan, former Mayor of Los Angeles (Republican)
* Carl DeMaio, radio host and former San Diego city councilman (Republican)
* Mark Tseneishi, Torrance traffic commissioner (Republican)
* Bradley Tusk, former spokesperson for the New York City Parks Department
Individuals
* Donald Friese, businessman
* Robert Day, businessman and philanthropist
* Paul Jacobs, businessman
* Bradford M. Freeman, businessman and conservative donor
* Floyd Kvamme, businessman and former advisor to George W. Bush and Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Kelly Roberts, businesswoman, philanthropist, and former advisor to Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican)
* David Crane, lecturer at Stanford University and president of Govern for California (Democratic)
* Merrill Newman, businessman and veteran
* Malin Burnham, businessman and former sailboat racer
* Eli Broad, entrepreneur and philanthropist
* Sherry Lansing, actress, film studio executive, and philanthropist
* Doug Wick, film producer
* Greg Lucier, businessman
* John Altschuler, film producer and writer
* Robert Shillman, businessman
* James Easton, businessman, philanthropist, and archer
* Robert C. Kagle, businessman
* Howard F. Ahmanson, businessman (Democratic)
* Joseph W. Saunders, chairman of Teach for All
* Larry Sonsini, corporate lawyer and venture capitalist
* David Horowitz, conservative writer
* Paul Haaga, chairman of NPR
* Tom Edmonds, member of the Kern County Republican Central Committee (Republican)
* Franklin P. Johnson, businessman (Republican)
* David Marquardt, venture capitalist
* Michael G. McCaffery, businessman
* Daniel Schnur, former director of communications for Pete Wilson (Republican)
* Jack Dangermond, businessman and environmental scientist
* Samuel Ginn, businessman
* A.C. Markkula, businessman
* Greg Penner, businessman
* Carrie Penner, educator and businesswoman
* Diane Wilsey, socialite and philanthropist
* Jeremy Stoppelman, businessman
* John Sculley, businessman
* Nicholas J. Pritzker, entrepreneur
* Jeffrey Henley, businessman
* Carl Berg, businessman
* Matt Cohler, venture capitalist
* John J. Fisher, businessman (Republican)
* Doris F. Fisher, businesswoman
* William S. Fisher, investor and philanthropist
* Alex Spanos, businessman and majority owner of the Los Angeles Chargers
* John H. Cox, businessman and candidate for Governor of California (Republican)
Organizations
* Unite America
* California Association of Pest Control Advisers
* Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
* Sierra Pacific Industries
* American Pistachio Growers of California
* Molina Healthcare
* Prime Healthcare Services
* New Majority
* Family Business PAC
* California Business Properties Association
* Blue Lake Rancheria
* Din Tai Fung
* Lincoln Club of Orange County
* Lincoln Club of Northern California
* Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers
* California Real Estate PAC

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ricardo Lara (D) | Steve Poizner (NPP) | Undecided |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | October 25–27, 2018 | 1,068 | ± 3.5% | 44% | 45% | 11% |
| UC Berkeley | October 19–26, 2018 | 1,339 | ± 4.0% | 44% | 49% | 7% |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | October 12–14, 2018 | 1,068 | ± 3.5% | 39% | 47% | 15% |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | September 28–30, 2018 | 1,068 | ± 3.5% | 37% | 45% | 15% |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | September 21–23, 2018 | 1,068 | ± 3.5% | 40% | 45% | 15% |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | September 14–16, 2018 | 1,040 | ± 3.5% | 27% | 34% | 40% |
| Thomas Partners Strategies | September 7–9, 2018 | 1,227 | ± 3.3% | 27% | 34% | 39% |

### Results

California Insurance Commissioner election, 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Ricardo Lara | 6,186,039 | 52.87% | −4.65% |
| | No party preference | Steve Poizner | 5,515,293 | 47.13% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 11,701,332 | 100% | N/A |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |