So continuing my research/decision making process in anticipation of the May 22 primary here in Georgia, I’m looking at the Insurance Commission race. This was originally just a comment but quickly became a full-length diary. As someone currently without health insurance (though if I get that job...), with family on Medicaid, and whose car insurance is too high for what coverage I have (and it went up despite no accidents or tickets!), this is an important race for me. This is an open race. The incumbent, Ralph Hudgens, is retiring. This was one of the first offices to fall to Republicans, way back in the 90s.
We have two women running for Team Blue’s nomination: Cindy Zeldin and Janice Laws. Overall, both candidates strike the right chord with me. Zeldin makes it clear she will not be a rubber stamp for insurance companies like previous Insurance Commissioners and will fight for lower premiums, more competition, more choices, and more access. On her Facebook page, she campaigns as the choice for “Healthcare voters.” Laws, for her part, offers more specifics, calling for caps on premium increases and lower surcharges for accident and claims, pledging to investigate insurance companies. News articles offer more specifics from Zeldin, where she advocates abolishing a law that allows insurance companies to raise auto rates without state approval as well as questioning why credit score should affect insurance rates (something that’s important to me as my credit score is garbage).
I’m fine with either candidate being the nominee, but there are several factors that make me lean toward Zeldin. One thing is background. Zeldin presents herself as a “consumer advocate.” She’s the former head of Georgians for a Healthy Future, a group that has been a proponent of the Affordable Healthcare Act since its inception. By comparison, Laws is an insurance agent. While this might be somewhat unfair, that raises a red flag with me. I’m always leery of whether politicians will walk the walk when it comes to regulating their friends.
For another thing, Zeldin seems to be putting more effort into the race. She has been very active on Facebook. I frequently see her campaign page as a suggested post, so she is actively working toward election. I haven’t heard a peep from Laws. Granted, I haven’t seen much on Facebook from anyone, but take advantage of a relatively low cost (free?) avenue to campaign, especially when resources are limited. She has also been traveling the state, including stops in Albany and Rome.
A couple other things indicate that Zeldin is the more viable candidate. One thing is resources. This is not a race where you would expect a Democratic candidate to get very much funding as the insurance companies are on the Republicans’ sides (which is fine with me) and Democratic money is focused up-ballot. Given how closely contest totals have tracked down the ballot over the last few election cycles despite idiosyncratic factors like money and incumbency, I doubt money will matter all that much anyways. If we win one race, we’ll probably win others. Still, it would be nice to see at least some fundraising ability. Laws has only raised about $12K to-date while Zeldin has raised more than $200K. That’s not a huge amount for an expensive state like Georgia but still pretty impressive, especially given that came in one quarter.
Zeldin also has an impressive list of reported endorsements that includes former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, former state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter, and Georgia’s WIN List (the Georgia equivalent of EMILY’s List). It’s also a very diverse group (for what it’s worth Zeldin is white while Laws is black). I’m generally not someone who will follow a candidate just because of the party apparatus getting behind them, but it’s a good indication as to the viability of the candidate.
My tentative primary ballot thus far:
Insurance Commissioner: Cindy Zeldin
Public Service Commissioner, District 5: Doug Stoner
Floyd County Superior Court Judge: Kay Ann Wetherington