Republican Robert Howell will face Democratic incumbent Ricardo Lara in the race for insurance commissioner after edging Democratic Assemblyman Marc Levine for the second spot on the November ballot.

Howell, a cybersecurity equipment manufacturer, bills himself as a “Reagan Republican,” and has pledged if elected to “serve as your personal watchdog guarding against waste, fraud, and abusively inflated premiums.”

No Republican has won statewide office in California since 2006 when Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected as governor and Steve Poizner was elected as insurance commissioner.

During the primary campaign, Lara touted his work related to wildfires, including helping create the first “Safer from Wildfires” framework and issuing regulations requiring insurance companies to use the framework in pricing.

“There’s nothing that substitutes for the experience I have in this position working directly with consumers and wildfire survivors,” said Lara, California’s first openly LGBTQ+ statewide elected official.

Levine conceded Wednesday, acknowledging on social media, “there simply aren’t enough uncounted ballots left to change the outcome of the election.”

Howell entered Wednesday’s resumption of the count of unprocessed ballots with a 4,921-vote lead and increased the lead to 6,393, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the Secretary of State’s Office.