Calif. Regulator Tilt: A Lock For Dems?
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, Jan. 10, 1:12 p.m. EST?The controversy created by former Republican California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush has virtually guaranteed the election of a Democrat to the post, according to an official of a large agent group.
John Norwood, legislative advocate for the Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West made that assessment in detailing why the Oakland, Calif.-based association is backing the candidacy of Democratic Assemblyman Thomas Calderon of Montebello.
The association has endorsed Mr. Calderon for the state's March 3 primary election.
None of the Republican candidates are seen as a viable contender in the election, Mr. Norwood said. The party is tainted, he said, by the resignation of Mr. Quackenbush in July of 2000 over allegations he used earthquake claim settlement funds for his own political interests.
Harry W. Low, who was appointed commissioner after Mr. Quackenbush's departure, is not seeking election to the post.
The endorsement of Mr. Calderon is only for the primary, but if he wins it would probably extend to the general election, Mr. Norwood said.
Besides the political realities involved, Mr. Norwood said the association's choice was based upon Mr. Calderon's work on insurance issues in the legislature, and his leadership as chairman of the Assembly's Insurance Committee.
While the association has not always been in agreement with Mr. Calderon, he has pushed competing interests together on a number of insurance issues in California in order to get legislation approved.
"He has the ability to balance and push compromise and that is something [an insurance commissioner] needs to do," said Mr. Norwood.
Mr. Calderon, noted Mr. Norwood, is also the only candidate who has actively reached out to agents and brokers in this election.
Running against Mr. Calderon in the primary are Tom Umberg of Villa Park, a former assemblyman from Orange County, Calif.; and former state insurance commissioner John Garamendi of Walnut Grove, Calif.
On the Republican side, Wesley "Wes" M. Bannister, an insurance agent and former Mayor of Huntington Beach, Calif., is facing Gary Mendoza, a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles and former head of the California Department of Corporations.
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