Battling the Tide in Commissioner Race : Politics: While Democrats run for a state insurance post as consumer advocates, a Huntington Beach Republican says he would work with the industry.

Joining a panel of candidates for state insurance commissioner, Democrat Bill Press told a Los Angeles audience last week that not one of the five hopefuls has a “big name” or has served in the Legislature.

“Most (politicians) see it as a no-win situation” because the insurance industry is in a crisis, said Press, and the commissioner could be blamed if problems are not resolved soon.

“Either that,” Press added, “or they see it as a job of boring numbers-crunching.”

As a result, the political dynamics of the race for California’s newest elected office--created by voters in 1988 with Proposition 103--has drawn attention to some otherwise obscure candidates.

One is Huntington Beach Councilman Wes Bannister, an insurance agent for 30 years with three years of experience in a local elective office.

With such a limited political background, Bannister probably wouldn’t be a contender for any other statewide office. But in the unique race for insurance commissioner, Bannister--so far--is the leading Republican.

Only one other Republican has announced an exploratory campaign--attorney Tom Skornia. There are three Democratic candidates: television commentator Press; state Board of Equalization Chairman Conway Collis and former Common Cause Director Walter Zellman.

Being the only candidate who has worked in the insurance industry, Bannister’s campaign message has a clearly different ring.

The Democratic candidates and the authors of Proposition 103 have portrayed the insurance commissioner as a consumer advocate, a champion of taxpayers fighting an evil insurance empire and a lethargic government.

Press promised from the dais last week that he would turn the state insurance office “from one that services the industry to one solely to fight for the consumer.” A brochure from Collis was headlined, “Your Best Insurance Policy Against the Insurance Industry.”

Bannister, however, voted against Proposition 103, the measure that created the office he is seeking and called for a still elusive 20% rollback in insurance rates.

He believes insurance rates should be reduced, but with the 20% called for by voters serving only as a goal while he works with insurance companies to cut costs that he said are burdening the industry.

“I would try to solve the problems within the existing framework rather than say, ‘Government, come in and take over,’ ” said Bannister, 53. “That is probably where we (candidates) differ more than anyplace else.

“I know how to do it and they don’t. . . . You work with them.”

Bannister said the other candidates make dramatic promises without the expertise to know what is achievable. His campaign may be less boastful, he said, but more realistic.

“When Bill Press and Conway Collis attack the insurance companies for high premiums, what they’re not looking at is the cause of the high premiums,” Bannister said. Bannister’s campaign will have to overcome the assumption of many experts that the politics of the race favors a Democrat for the commissioner’s office.

Generally, political experts say, Republicans are considered more supportive of business and Democrats are considered more likely to be consumer advocates.

In addition, incumbent Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie, who was appointed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, has been perceived in public opinion polls as defending the insurance industry and unwilling to implement the rate rollbacks in Proposition 103.

“In very general terms, anyone connected with the insurance industry is going to have a problem to overcome,” said Darry Sragow, a California Democratic political consultant. “I think there’s a conventional wisdom that this is a Democratic seat.”

Bannister, who has had his own insurance agency in Huntington Beach for 15 years, acknowledged that his background might be his greatest strength but noted that it will be used against him.

“It’s a major problem because the first thing out of somebody’s mouth is that you’re a pawn of the big companies,” he said. “That’s one of the things the Democrats will certainly use against me.

“I’m not a pawn and I’ve got to convince people of that,” he said.

The political dangers of being associated with the insurance companies were clearly demonstrated at last week’s panel discussion in Los Angeles, when a questioner asked all of the candidates whether they would accept contributions from the insurance community.

Every one except Bannister said they would reject any contributions from the insurance community or from trial lawyers. But Bannister said that because the statewide race is so expensive, he would accept money from both.

In an interview, Bannister said insurance companies have already given him $1,000 of the $35,000 he has raised. “And I have no qualms about it,” he said. “I will not be beholden to that money.”

Bannister was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in 1986 and became mayor last year in a vote taken by his fellow council members. His one-year term as mayor ended last month.

On the council, Bannister was an opponent of the city’s slow-growth initiative last year.

And he has been a strong advocate of the $500-million redevelopment project the city has launched in an effort to become a tourist destination. In an interview, Bannister claimed credit for the city’s redevelopment achievements and said they are evidence that he could be a leader in government at the state level.

Bannister’s campaign literature describes him as the “driving force” behind the redevelopment effort. But other city officials said he may be taking too much credit.

“I would hate to contradict the man, but I think he needs something else to hang his hat on,” said Gerri Ortega, a Huntington Beach Planning Commission member. “He was mayor and he had a pro-growth council. . . . I would say that he was not the sole responsible person.”

Bannister said, “For 20 years we have been trying to clean that place up and it’s never been done. In my (1986) campaign, I said in this four-year cycle I will work to get this cleaned up, and I fulfilled that obligation.

“I had a lot of help from other members of the council,” he said. “They were right behind me.”