Ben Allen (California politician)

Allen was born and raised in Santa Monica, California, to a Jewish family.^[1][2] After graduating from Santa Monica High School, he received a bachelor of arts from Harvard University in 2000, a master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge in 2001, and a juris doctor from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. He worked for New York Rep. José E. Serrano for two years and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2008.^[3][4]

He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife and two children.^[5][6]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

As a student at UC Berkeley, Allen served as a University of California student regent from 2007 to 2008.^[7] He served on the Santa Monica–Malibu Board of Education from 2008 until his election to the California State Senate in 2014, serving as president of the board from 2012 to 2013.^[8] He also chaired the Los Angeles County Committee on School Board Organization.^[9]

Allen announced his candidacy for the redrawn 26th district in February 2014.^[5] His major opponents in the primary included Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth, former Assemblymember Betsy Butler, and social justice attorney Sandra Fluke.

After finishing in first place in the June 2014 primary election, he defeated Sandra Fluke in the November 2014 general election by a wide margin.^[10][11]

Allen successfully defended his seat four years later. He secured 77 percent of the vote in the June 2018 primary, defeating Baron Bruno, an unaffiliated realtor, and Mark Matthew Herd, Libertarian candidate and Westwood neighborhood councilman. In the November 2018 primary election, Allen defeated Bruno again, winning by a margin of 54.4 percent. His term will end on December 1, 2026.^[12][13]

In January 2025, the Palisades Fire broke out in Allen's district. In the aftermath, Allen helped constituents who lost their homes,^[14] worked to bring state and federal leaders together to help with resident assistance,^[15] and secured funding to rebuild landmarks like Will Rogers State Historic Park.^[16]

Allen also wrote legislation to assist mobile home park residents who lost their homes,^[17] provide tax assistance for fire victims,^[18] and provide help to victims trying to maximize contents coverage from their insurers.^[19]

One of Allen's areas of focus is environmental protection. In 2022, Allen was the author of landmark legislation to reduce plastic pollution.^[20]

In 2024, Allen was the lead author of a $10 billion bond measure to invest in safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparedness, and clean air.^[21] Voters approved the measure, known as Proposition 4, with 60% of the vote in the November 2024 election.^[22]

As Chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy, Allen led efforts to appropriate $3.5 billion of Proposition 4 bond funding,^[23] including $598 million for wildfire prevention programs.^[24]

As Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, he helped advance California's historic climate goals, such as carbon neutrality by 2045^[25] and 90% clean energy by 2035.^[26]

In 2017, Allen brokered a bipartisan compromise that lessened the environmental impact of off-highway vehicle use at state facilities.^[27]

Allen authored the Voter's Choice Act in 2016, which modernized elections and expanded access to the ballot.^[28] He has worked closely with the California Clean Money Campaign, Common Cause, and the League of Women Voters on a number of transparency and political reform measures.^[29]

On September 16, 2025, Allen announced he would run for California Insurance Commissioner in 2026,^[30] running on a platform of advocating for consumers after disasters, stabilizing the insurance market, and making government bureaucracy more transparent and accessible.^[31]

Allen has pledged not to accept contributions from the insurance industry in his campaign. In February 2025, a news report found that Allen's campaign had inadvertently transferred a single donation from an insurance company from his Senate campaign fund to his Insurance Commissioner fund, which a campaign spokesperson said would be "refunded immediately."^[32]

At the 2026 California Democratic Party endorsing convention, Allen finished in first place with 42% in a vote of party delegates, ahead of three Democratic competitors.^[33]