Five states held elections for insurance commissioner on November 8, 2016.

HIGHLIGHTS

A majority of insurance commissioners are appointed as nonpartisan officeholders. Eleven are elected in partisan elections.

Going into the 2016 elections, there were five Democratic commissions and six Republican commissioners.

Two incumbents ran for re-election. Three seats were open.

Click on a state flag to jump to election details:

Partisan analysis

Office	Democratic	Republican	Nonpartisan	Total seats
Insurance Commissioner	5	7	38	50
Note: In Ohio, the director of insurance is a nonpartisan position. However, it is held by Mary Taylor (R), who also serves as the lieutenant governor. Counts current as of October 2016. If you see an error, please email us

The partisan breakdown of insurance commissioners was unchanged after the 2014 and 2015 elections. These elections also featured a number of incumbents winning re-election. Heading into the 2016 elections, Democrats held five insurance commissioner seats and Republicans held six, plus an additional seat held by the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. Of the five seats up for election in 2016, Democrats held four. This created a partisan risk in that a disproportionate number of seats held by Democrats were being challenged compared to the actual partisan balance. Democrats therefore entered the November 2016 elections in a position of greater relative risk than Republicans.

Influence of voter turnout

Insurance Commissioner elections across the country coincided with what was a highly competitive presidential election, which drives up voter turnout down the ballot.^[1] This increased turnout during presidential election years can significantly affect the partisan balance of state governments. In particular, offices elected during mid-presidential term elections disadvantage the party of the current president, a trend that has remained relatively constant since the Civil War. Presidential election years see aggregate gains for the party of the winning presidential candidate.^[2]^[1]

Four states held insurance commissioner elections in 2014, equal to 36% of the 11 states in which it is an elected position. That same year, voter turnout was the lowest recorded since 1942.^[3] Indeed, voter turnout has dropped during mid-presidential term elections since the 1840s.^[2] This means a large majority of publicly elected insurance commissioners are elected during these midterm cycles that see significantly lower turnout.

2016 elections

Five states held insurance commissioner elections in 2016. Browse candidates, key deadlines, and results by state:

Delaware

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Delaware held a regularly scheduled election for insurance commissioner in 2016.

Trinidad Navarro (D)
Most recent positon: New Castle County sheriff since 2011
Past experience: Police officer, insurance agent

Jeff Cragg (R)
Most recent position: Consultant, small business owner
Past experience: Insurance executive

Click [show] to view candidates who declined to run in this election or were defeated in the primary elections.

Defeated

Karen Weldin Stewart (D)
Most recent position: Delaware insurance commissioner since 2009
Past experience: Insurance consultant

George Parish (R)
Most recent position: Sussex County clerk of the peace, 2005-2013
Past experience: Retired federal employee

Declined

Paul Gallagher (D)- businessman and 2012 insurance commissioner candidate^[4]^[5]

General election

Trinidad Navarro defeated Jeff Cragg in the Delaware insurance commissioner election.

Delaware Insurance Commissioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Trinidad Navarro	59.29%	246,428
	Republican	Jeff Cragg	40.71%	169,228
Total Votes				415,656
Source: Delaware Secretary of State

Primary elections

Trinidad Navarro defeated incumbent Karen Weldin Stewart in the Delaware Democratic primary for insurance commissioner.

Delaware Democratic primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Trinidad Navarro	54.92%	33,096
Karen Weldin Stewart Incumbent	45.08%	27,163
Total Votes		60,259
Source: Delaware Department of Elections

Jeff Cragg defeated George Parish in the Delaware Republican primary for insurance commissioner.

Delaware Republican primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Cragg	51.63%	15,075
George Parish	48.37%	14,123
Total Votes		29,198
Source: Delaware Department of Elections

Montana

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Montana held a regularly scheduled election for insurance commissioner in 2016.

A complete candidate list will be available after the filing deadline.

General election

Matthew Rosendale defeated Jesse Laslovich in the Montana commissioner of securities and insurance, Auditor election.

Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Auditor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Matthew Rosendale	53.81%	262,045
	Democratic	Jesse Laslovich	46.19%	224,925
Total Votes				486,970
Source: Montana Secretary of State

Primary elections

Republican primary contest

Matthew Rosendale ran unopposed in the Montana Republican primary for state auditor.

Montana Republican primary for state auditor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Matthew Rosendale (unopposed)	100.00%	132,813
Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting)		132,813
Source: Montana Secretary of State

Democratic primary contest

Jesse Laslovich ran unopposed in the Montana Democratic primary for state auditor.

Montana Democratic primary for state auditor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jesse Laslovich (unopposed)	100.00%	103,972
Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting)		103,972
Source: Montana Secretary of State

North Carolina

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North Carolina held a regularly scheduled election for insurance commissioner in 2016.

Wayne Goodwin (D)
Incumbent commissioner of insurance since 2009

Mike Causey (R)
Adopt-A-Highway coordinator for NC Department of Transportation

Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary elections.

Joe McLaughlin (R) - Former Oslow County commissioner
Ronald "Ron" Pierce (R) - Businessman

General election

Mike Causey defeated incumbent Wayne Goodwin in the North Carolina insurance commisioner election.

North Carolina Insurance Commisioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Causey	50.44%	2,247,595
	Democratic	Wayne Goodwin Incumbent	49.56%	2,208,241
Total Votes				4,455,836
Source: ABC11

Primary elections

Democratic primary election

Wayne Goodwin was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. He automatically advanced to the November general election and therefore did not appear on the March 15 primary ballot.

Republican primary election

North Carolina Labor Commissioner Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike Causey	41.2%	340,936
Joe McLaughlin	33%	272,846
Ronald (Ron) Pierce	25.9%	214,126
Total Votes		827,908
Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections.

North Dakota

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North Dakota held a regularly scheduled election for insurance commissioner in 2016.

Ruth Buffalo (D/Democratic-Nonpartisan League)
Educator

Jon Godfread (R)
Vice president of governmental affairs, Greater North Dakota Chamber

Nick Bata (Lib.)
Employee at a drywall contracting company

General election

Jon Godfread defeated Ruth Buffalo and Nick Bata in the North Dakota insurance commissioner election.

North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jon Godfread	64.41%	206,067
	Democratic/Democrat-Nonpartisan League	Ruth Buffalo	26.79%	85,696
	Libertarian	Nick Bata	8.64%	27,642
		Write-in votes	0.17%	534
Total Votes				319,939
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Primary elections

Ruth Buffalo ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for insurance commissioner.

Democratic primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ruth Buffalo (unopposed)	99.86%	16,647
Write-in votes	0.14%	24
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		16,671
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Jon Godfread ran unopposed in the Republican primary for insurance commissioner.

Republican primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jon Godfread (unopposed)	99.74%	91,402
Write-in votes	0.26%	235
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		91,637
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Nick Bata ran unopposed in the Libertarian primary for insurance commissioner.

Libertarian primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Nick Bata (unopposed)	99.44%	1,064
Write-in votes	0.56%	6
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		1,070
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Washington

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Washington held a regularly scheduled election for insurance commissioner in 2016.

Mike Kreidler (D)
Most recent position: Washington insurance commissioner since 2001
Past experience: U.S. Rep., 1993-1994; state Sen., 1985-1992; state Rep., 1977-1985

Richard Schrock (R)
Most recent position: Commissioner for Snohomish Co. Fire District 1 since 2011
Past experience: Director, Washington State Department of Commerce, 1981-1985

Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary election.

Justin Murta (Lib.)
Most recent position: Account manager for Benefits West since 2003
Past experience: U.S. Marine Corps., 1997-2005

General election

Incumbent Mike Kreidler defeated Richard Schrock in the Washington insurance commissioner election.

Washington Insurance Commissioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Kreidler Incumbent	58.34%	1,763,134
	Republican	Richard Schrock	41.66%	1,258,827
Total Votes				3,021,961
Source: Washington Secretary of State

Primary election

Note: Washington utilizes a mail-in ballot system. Results were not finalized until 14 days after the primary election.^[6]

Incumbent Mike Kreidler and Richard Schrock defeated Justin Murta in the Washington primary for insurance commissioner.

Washington primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Kreidler Incumbent	58.41%	772,569
	Republican	Richard Schrock	34.09%	450,830
	Libertarian	Justin Murta	7.50%	99,181
Total Votes				1,322,580
Source: Washington Secretary of State

About the office

The insurance commissioner is a state-level position in all 50 states. The duties of the position vary from state to state, but their general role is as a consumer protection advocate and insurance regulator. The position is elected in 11 states and appointed in 39.

Insurance regulation is one of the older state government functions, with most states having insurance departments dating back to the late 19th century. Generally speaking, their role has not changed much since then.^[7]

Quick facts about Insurance Commissioners
Elected in 11 states; appointed in 39 In the 39 appointed states, 37 are appointed by the Governor and two states (New Mexico and Virginia), appoint via a multi-member commission Salary range (in 2010): $163,800 (Texas) to $79,134 (Montana)

Elected vs. appointed

	2017 → ← 2015
	2016 State Executive Elections
2016 Top Ballot
	Governor • Lt. Governor; Secretary of State • Attorney General
2016 Down Ballot
	Agriculture Commissioner • Auditor; Comptroller • Insurance Commissioner; Labor Commissioner; Natural Resources Commissioner; Public Education Commission; Public Service Commissioner; Superintendent of Schools • Treasurer
Previous Elections
	2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010

As it stands, there are only three ways in which an individual is able to be selected to serve as insurance commissioner - by being publicly elected by the people of the state through the primary/general election processes, being appointed by the governor, or being appointed by a commission.

Insurance commissioner is an appointed position in 39 states, 37 of which are appointed by the governor, with the remaining two appointed by a commission. In New Mexico the Public Regulation Commission appoints their insurance commissioner, while in Virginia it is decided by the State Corporation Commission. The other 11 states hold elections for the position.