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Merritt Farren

Insurance Commissioner

Running in 2026: Insurance Commissioner (June 2) “Consumer Advocate/Attorney”

Form 700 statements

Statement	Filed	What it lists
2026 Candidate Insurance Commissioner	2026-03-06	9 investments, 1 businesses & trusts, 4 real property, 2 income

Findings

Context Campaign money · the statement

Put $195,260 of their own into the Insurance Commissioner campaign (77% of its money)

Itemized money to Farren for Insurance Commissioner 2026 through Cal-Access reports in 2025-2026: $153,370 in contributions, of which $95,260 from the candidate, plus $100,000 in loans from the candidate.

What to check

Context, not a problem: candidates may fund their own campaigns.
Loans can be repaid from later contributions (Cal-Access Schedule B).

Rule: Candidate's own money in the campaign

How this rule works

Campaign money: Insurance Commissioner

$153,370itemized, 57 contributions

$195,260from the candidate (incl. loans)

Where their outside money comes from

65%35%

IndividualsBusinessesTrade, professional and issue groupsLabor unionsTribal governmentsPolitical partiesOther candidates and officeholders

Plus $95,260 of their own money and from their earlier campaigns' committees. Compare with all state candidates →

How it was spent: $252,100

Other (described)$180,342

Consultants$43,025

Legal and accounting$12,967

Literature and mailings$7,350

Internet and email$3,845

Office expenses$2,148

Fundraising events$1,424

Civic donations$1,000

Largest payees: American Express Company $68,126 Other (described) · Citigroup, Inc. (CitiCard) $54,654 Other (described) · Point Blank Political $26,900 Other (described) · Google $24,397 Other (described) · Inversion Strategies $20,000 Consultants · Press Pass L.A. LLC $11,500 Legal and accounting · Kayyem Marketing $8,025 Consultants · Unplugged Films $7,500 Legal and accounting

Payments on their full reports (Form 460 Schedule E) covering 2025–2026, by the FPPC's expense codes; a consultant's payments to others (ads, mail) show under the consultant.

Top contributors	Type	Total
Merritt Farren Candidate · California Insurance Commissioner · Calabasas	Person	$95,260.01
Inversion Strategies Irvine	Business/other	$19,510
Steve Wadsworth Investing · W3 Capital · Atherton	Person	$10,000
Gregory Cassileth CFO · The Practice Healthcare · Los Angeles	Person	$3,000
Clark Beyer Consulting · Global Fuel Solutions · Los Altos	Person	$2,500
Richard Bridgford Attorney · Bridgford Gleason and Artinian · Newport Coast	Person	$2,000
Eric Aledort SVP, Partnerships and Business Development · The Arena Group · San Marino	Person	$1,000
Lee Bogdanoff Mediator · JAMS · Santa Monica	Person	$1,000
Michael Childress Lawyer · Kabateck LLP · Santa Monica	Person	$1,000
Gloria Frelinghuysen Retired · Retired · Los Angeles	Person	$1,000
Mani Brothers LLC(Joseph Mani) West Hollywood	Business/other	$1,000
David Mercer Real Estate Investment · RCMI · Culver City	Person	$1,000
Zachary Parker CEO · Redline Detection · Orange	Person	$1,000
Claire Robinson Retired · Retired · Pasadena	Person	$1,000
David Walsh Retired · Retired · San Marino	Person	$1,000

Committees: Farren for Insurance Commissioner 2026. From the Secretary of State's Cal-Access export; reports covering 2025–2026.

Their donors also gave to

Their largest donors who also funded other 2026 state candidates.

Donor	To them	Candidates funded
Amanda Marks Digital Media Executive, Apple Inc. · Los Angeles	$500	2
Winifred Wechsler Senior Advisor, Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation · Santa Monica	$500	2
James Cunneen Partner, California Strategies · San Jose	$500	8
Grant Kirkpatrick Architect, KAA Design Group · Manhattan Beach	$250	2
Anne McGrail Not Employed, Not Employed · Los Angeles	$250	4
Steve Bardwil Retired, Retired · Thousand Oaks	$100	2