Insurers Fleeing Fire Risks Fuel California Leader’s Rise (1)

California’s newest state Senate president is only 44 but an old-school throwback: Mike McGuire climbed the political ladder by winning elections to the school board, mayor and county government and with a granular focus on bread-and-butter constituent issues.

His profile grew after the Tubbs wildfire in 2017 devastated property owners and renters in his Northern California district. McGuire led the push to make insurers more responsive.

Similar battles have flared as insurance heavyweights abandon communities from the coasts of Florida and North Carolina to the mountains of Oregon, and more are looming. California is poised to become a widely watched ...