Walter Zelman of Common Cause to Explore Race for Insurance Chief

Walter A. Zelman, for 11 years executive director of California Common Cause, on Monday will begin a 30-day leave of absence from that position to explore running for state insurance commissioner.

The 45-year-old Democrat said that unless his prospects appear extremely discouraging, he intends to vie for the post next year when it becomes elective for the first time under the terms of Proposition 103.

Zelman said he would run on a platform of fully implementing the initiative and making the commissioner’s job “an office of consumer protection.”

His announcement of interest in the job came just after the U.S. Justice Department informed the California secretary of state’s office that it will not interpose any objection under the federal Voting Rights Act to the post becoming an elective one. Since four California counties fall under the jurisdiction of the Voting Rights Act, a Justice Department review of that portion of Proposition 103 was required.

No Objection

Word that the department has no objection came in a letter signed by Barry Weinberg, acting chief of the voting section of the civil rights division.

Zelman’s crusades as Common Cause director for ethics in government and against special-interest influence have made him well known to politicians throughout the state, but a recent poll that he had taken indicated that his general name identification with the electorate is low.

However, he said, he was recently assured by a staff member of the secretary of state’s office that he will be able to use the occupational designation of “director, Common Cause,” beneath his name on the ballot, even though he would no longer be with the nonpartisan organization at election time. He would be allowed the designation under a policy that allows candidates to use their latest occupational title.

The poll he commissioned strongly indicated that once his affiliation with Common Cause was made known, he gained substantial support, Zelman said.

When potential voters were asked which of three prospective Democratic candidates they would support, without the occupational designation, he got only 4% of the vote, while Board of Equalization member Conway Collis got 5% and television commentator Bill Press got 12%, according to Zelman. The preponderant majority, 61%, were not sure at this stage, and 14% said they favored none of the candidates, while 4% refused to say or were leaning toward one candidate or another.

But when Zelman, Collis and Press were all identified by occupation and their supporters in the poll, then, Zelman said, he led with 27% support, Collis had 20% and Press 17%. The rest were not sure, favored none, refused to say or were only leaning.

Zelman said he would not seek to match his opposition in fund raising. He said he would not take any contributions from the insurance industry and would prefer not taking any from the trial lawyers, the other major pressure group in the insurance issue, although he has not completely ruled it out.

“No one can raise a lot of money for this job healthily,” Zelman remarked, saying it would only interfere with doing the job honestly.

Zelman also said he would not make sweeping promises in the campaign about rate rollbacks or otherwise reducing everyone’s rates but would instead tell the voters that it is a complicated issue, there are no easy solutions and he would work hard to develop long-range policies that would at least slow the rate of increases.

“I would use Proposition 103 to the maximum to force the insurance companies to prove their case for increases,” Zelman said.

He added that later on, he might urge new laws to step up seat belt enforcement, tighten speed restrictions, move against drunk driving and, perhaps, institute no-fault insurance as a means of lowering rates.

Public Speaker

Besides his Common Cause post, Zelman has served since 1984 as a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power commissioner. He has been a frequent author of articles in various publications and also a frequent public speaker.

Zelman was educated at the University of Michigan and the London School of Economics before obtaining a master’s degree in international relations and a Ph.D in political science at UCLA.