Voters Reelect Four Insurance Commissioners New governors in Indiana, Missouri and New Hampshire may change regulators
Voters last week returned incumbent insurance commissioners to office in Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota and Washington.
Those results mean the only political change in membership in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners could come in three states in which both the governor chooses the insurance commissioner and where the governors office changed parties.
In Missouri and Indiana, control of the governors office shifted from Democrats to Republicans, and in New Hampshire, voters replaced a Republican with a Democrat. In Missouri, Insurance Director Scott Lakin and Gov. Bob Holden have been strong opponents of credit scoring.
Delaware: Democrat Matthew Denn defeated Republican David Ennis with about 53 percent of the vote. Mr. Denn helped write a patients bill of rights while serving as legal counsel to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner from 2001 through 2003. The former incumbent commissioner, Democrat Donna Lee Williams, is retiring after serving 12 years in the post.
Montana: Democrat John Morrison won reelection with an estimated 57 percent of the vote, as his fellow DemocratBrian Schweitzertook the governors chair. Mr. Morrison, who is one of the few former trial lawyers to serve as insurance commissioner, ran on a platform of tax credits for small businesses to provide health insurance, and some reform of credit scoring regulations. He defeated Republican State Sen. Duane Grimes.
North Carolina: Democrat Jim Long, a former NAIC president, handily won his sixth term with 55 percent of the vote. Last July he announced a settlement with the auto insurers in his state that might eventually result in $1.2 billion savings to drivers, along with immediate refunds. He won his post along with Democratic incumbent Gov. Mike Easley, defeating former state legislator C. Robert Brawley.
North Dakota: Republican Jim Poolman easily won reelection, defeating auto glass repair shop owner Terry Barnes. Mr. Poolman suddenly quit his post as NAIC vice president this fall and took himself out of contention for the organizations presidencya post that abruptly became vacant with the resignation of Ernst Csiszar to head the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Mr. Poolman took nearly two-thirds of the vote. During his campaign, he said that availability was a key issue for the state, which attracts few carriers.
Washington: Democrat Mike Kreidler won a second term with 53 percent of the vote, defeating Republican John Adams, who owned an insurance brokerage. Mr. Kreidler has gained a reputation as a critic of credit scoring.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, November 4, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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