About the Speakers

California State Senator Ben Allen represents the 24th Senate District covering the Westside, Hollywood, South Bay, and Santa Monica Mountains communities of LA County. Ben was first elected in 2014 and is now serving his third term in the State Senate. Ben has thrown himself into the important work of state government, focusing on wise decision-making and pushing for reforms that address systemic inadequacies in our state. He has authored nearly 60 new laws in various areas, from environmental protection to electoral reform. Throughout his career, Ben’s north star has always been clear: put the public interest first. That mission came into even clearer view for Ben during the Palisades Fire in January. As his constituents were directly impacted, Ben immediately got to work on efforts to assist with the initial governmental response. He is now running for Insurance Commissioner to continue his lifelong commitment to fighting for the public good—protecting consumers, safeguarding the environment, and making government more transparent and accountable to the people it serves. To learn more go to benallenca.com

A native of Gardena, California, Steven Bradford is driven by a deep-rooted commitment to community service and social justice. Raised by a mother who worked as a nurse and a father who owned a small business, Bradford learned early on the values of compassion, advocacy, and equity. He has dedicated his career to championing the rights of marginalized communities and advocating for a more inclusive society. His relentless advocacy spans various sectors, from government and businesses to education and housing, with a singular focus on empowering Californians to achieve the California Dream. A longtime public servant, Steven Bradford previously served in the California State Senate. As former chair of the Senate Banking Committee and the Select Committee on Boys and Men of Color, he has spearheaded initiatives to promote opportunities for underserved communities. Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Bradford served in the California State Assembly and on the City Council in the City of Gardena. 

Merritt Farren is a Pacific Palisades fire survivor, former Amazon associate general counsel and former head of legal guest claims and security of the Disneyland Resort. Merritt has lived in California since the age of nine. He comes from a middle-class family, had a dad who was a Navy pilot, attended church every Sunday as a child, and attended public schools until college—all of which were terrific institutions filled with dedicated, talented teachers and administrators. Merritt received his undergraduate degree with honors from Stanford University and attended Berkeley Law for law school. Merritt, most of his friend and essentially all of his neighbors lost their homes in the Pacific Palisades fires, an urban fire that was avoidable and he says that was the result of numerous failures by state, county and city leaders. After the fire Merritt, saw his community hit by a second punch, the massive challenge of dealing with insurance in a California insurance system that, for most in the Palisades, felt completely broken. Listening to their insurance complaints and stresses, Merritt determined so see how he might help. That lead to his decision to participate in the State Farm Insurance Rate Increase proceedings administered by the Department of Insurance as an official advocate of consumer interests. That, in turn, gave him an inside look into insurance challenges and opportunities in front of us. Merritt came from two of the most innovative customer centric companies in the world—Amazon and Disney. Merritt wants to bring his senior executive level expertise in technology, law, and innovation implementation learned there to take California forward and out of its current insurance crisis, serving as California’s next insurance commissioner.

As a San Francisco supervisor from 2011 to 2019, Jane Kim represented a district encompassing both the city’s lowest-income residents and its wealthiest ZIP code. She fought for groundbreaking initiatives, including making San Francisco the only city in the nation to provide tuition-free Community College for all residents, enacting the nation’s strongest minimum wage law, and establishing a medical respite shelter for aging and sick homeless residents. A longtime champion for affordable housing, Jane crafted the nation’s most robust tenant-protection ordinance to prevent unjust evictions. She also led and won the fight to raise the city’s affordable housing mandate from 12 percent to 25 percent. Jane has served as the California political director for Bernie 2020 and as a senior fellow at both the Sanders Institute and the Young Elected Officials Network. Over the last four years, Jane Kim served as the California director for the Working Families Party, where she recruited and trained the next generation of leaders ready to fight for working families. 

Lalo Vargas is an environmental science teacher in Los Angeles, a former volunteer EMT/Firefighter, a tenant organizer, and a proud member of his union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). He is running on the Vote Socialist CA slate of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Patrick Wolff is a financial analyst, father, and life-long Democrat with years of insurance experience. Early in his career, he spent four years building a home and auto insurance brokerage for a major bank. He has spent the last 20 years as a financial analyst, analyzing and investing in companies and markets, including insurance companies. Patrick has been very involved in state and local politics over the past ten years. He sits on the board of the Westside Family Democratic Club and is on the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee for SFUSD. Now, he is running for California Insurance Commissioner to bring fairness, transparency, and reform to our broken insurance system.

Moderator Nancy Tung was elected as chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party in April 2024. She previously served as an elected member of the party's local leadership for four years. She deeply understands the impact the Democratic Party has on our local elections and is guiding a new caucus of moderate Democrats in the party. Nancy's core issues are public safety, improving public schools, increasing the housing stock, and supporting small businesses. Outside of politics, Nancy is a career prosecutor, having served at the state and local level for 24 years.