BUSINESS
October 6, 2006 | Marc Lifsher, Times Staff Writer
For the first time, prominent consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield is backing a Republican in the race for state insurance commissioner -- a move that may change the odds in the race. Rosenfield, the author of 1988's landmark Proposition 103 auto insurance initiative, has always been considered a Democratic ally. But the party's candidate in the Nov. 7 election is Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, whom Rosenfield has criticized for trying to water down Proposition 103 while in the state Assembly.
OPINION
January 15, 2010
With former congressman Tom Campbell dropping out of the California governor's race Thursday, Republican voters will now be faced with a sharp choice: either a multimillionaire Silicon Valley businessman who has contributed $19 million toward his own election campaign, or a multimillionaire Silicon Valley businesswoman who has contributed $19 million toward her campaign. Campbell was considered a long shot in large part because the UC Berkeley business school dean couldn't keep up with his deep-pocketed competitors in fundraising.
BUSINESS
March 19, 2010 | By Duke Helfand
A consumer group Thursday called on California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to release all documents related to his investigation of proposed double-digit rate increases by Anthem Blue Cross for customers who buy individual policies. Consumer Watchdog also asked Poizner to hold at least four public hearings across the state as part of his inquiry into premium increases by California's largest for-profit insurer. Woodland Hills-based Anthem agreed to delay its rate hikes of as much as 39% until May 1 while an outside actuary, hired by Poizner's office, reviews the company's spending on medical claims.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 26, 2004 | Nancy Vogel, Times Staff Writer
Along the south shore of San Francisco Bay, from the bookstores of Palo Alto to the estates of Atherton, one man's checkbook has created an Assembly race where it otherwise wouldn't exist. In a district dominated by Democrats, Republican Steve Poizner has spent $4.8 million of his own money -- writing checks of $100,000 or more to himself every week since August -- to pay for a blizzard of television ads and mailers, and has raised $1 million more.
BUSINESS
April 7, 2005 | Marc Lifsher, Times Staff Writer
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Poizner pulled himself out of the running Wednesday for a seat on the California Public Utilities Commission, conceding that his financial holdings were too big and complex to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Poizner, a 48-year-old moderate Republican from Los Gatos, said he planned to run for state insurance commissioner next year instead.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 16, 2010 | By Cathleen Decker and Seema Mehta
Republican candidates for governor Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner met in a generally genteel debate Monday evening that skipped lightly over detailed solutions to California's grievous fiscal mess in favor of the familiar arguments that each has made for months as they drive toward the June 8 primary. Whitman argued that she would bring an outsider's perspective to Sacramento and present the sharpest possible contrast to the presumptive Democratic nominee, former governor and current Atty.