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Elected vs appointed insurance commissioners: who regulates insurers
Eleven states elect their insurance commissioner and the rest appoint one. What each model means for rate review, complaints and insurer influence.
In most states the person who regulates your car insurer was picked by the governor. In eleven states, including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Washington, voters choose the insurance commissioner directly at the ballot box. Either way, the commissioner's real power comes from the state's insurance statutes, not from how the job was filled, and that is why the two models can look surprisingly alike once a rate filing or a complaint lands on a desk.
This article sorts out which states are in which group, how the department around the commissioner is organized, what commissioners have actually done on auto insurance, and what the evidence and the arguments say about each model. It also shows how to find out who your commissioner is and how to use that office.
Which states elect their commissioner
A list of commissioners that Wikipedia maintains from NAIC rosters, last updated in January 2025, marks eleven states as electing the office: California, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington. The U.S. Virgin Islands also elects its commissioner (it is the lieutenant governor's job there). Every other state, the District of Columbia and the other territories appoint. The count of eleven matches how trade press describes the field: when Washington voters chose a new commissioner in November 2024, Insurance Journal described the winner's predecessor as "one of the country's 11 elected insurance commissioners."
Two cautions apply. First, rosters change. States occasionally amend their constitutions or statutes, and commissioners come and go on election cycles, so check the current roster on your state's insurance department website before relying on any list, including this one. Second, "appointed" covers more than one method. A 2014 Washington Senate staff analysis noted that the governor makes the appointment in most states, while in eight states the regulator is appointed by some other official or body (a bill report from that year says so). That is a decade-old count, so treat the number as illustrative.
What "appointed" looks like in Texas
Texas is a clean example of the appointed model. Under Texas Insurance Code section 31.022, the governor appoints the commissioner "with the advice and consent of the senate," and the commissioner serves a two-year term that expires on February 1 of each odd-numbered year. The next section of the same chapter sets qualifications: the commissioner must be "a competent and experienced administrator," be well informed and qualified in insurance and insurance regulation, and have at least five years of experience in business or government administration or as a practicing attorney or certified public accountant.
Two features stand out. The term is short and tied to the legislative calendar, so a new session can bring a new confirmation fight. And the qualifications are written into law. Compare that with a 1999 study from a Washington think tank, the Washington Institute Foundation, which argued that the elected Washington office then had only two legal requirements for candidates: being 18 and a state citizen. That study was an advocacy document for an appointed commissioner, so read it as one side of the argument, but it names a real structural difference: elections let voters decide who is qualified, while appointment statutes can set a bar in advance.
The department behind the commissioner
Voters and drivers often picture the commissioner personally reviewing a rate filing. In practice the commissioner is the head of a department with divisions, and the divisions do the daily work. Names differ by state, but most departments cover the same ground.
Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner is an easy one to inspect because its contact page lists its business units. They include:
- Consumer advocacy and consumer services, which take questions, help with claims problems and handle complaints against insurers.
- Agency and individual licensing, which licenses agents and keeps them in compliance.
- Rates, forms and provider networks, the team that receives rate and policy-form filings.
- Company supervision, which handles insurers' annual reports and filings.
- Market conduct, which examines how insurers treat customers.
- The Criminal Investigations Unit, which takes insurance fraud reports.
Most departments also have a legal or enforcement division, a policy and legislative affairs office, and deputies who report to the commissioner. A deputy for rates and filings, a deputy for consumer protection and a deputy for investigations is a common arrangement, though titles and numbers vary and you should check your own state's organization chart rather than assume one. The Washington office describes itself on its about page as run by "our elected commissioner" and states its mission as protecting the public "through fair, transparent, and consistent oversight of the insurance industry."
The point for a driver is practical. If your complaint reaches the consumer services unit, the commissioner's election or appointment does not change who picks up the file. If you want a policy change, such as a new rule on total-loss valuation or telematics data, the commissioner's rulemaking authority and political backing matter much more. For the complaint path itself, see how to file a complaint against a car insurance company; for the broader structure of a department, see what your state insurance department does.
What a commissioner can actually do on auto insurance
The powers differ in every state because each state's legislature wrote its own insurance code. Wikipedia's summary of the office lists the common core: approving insurance rates in states that require it, financial examinations of insurers, licensing of companies and agents, and monitoring claims handling. The Texas statute is blunter: the commissioner "shall administer and enforce this code, other insurance laws of this state, and other laws granting jurisdiction or applicable to the department or the commissioner."
Rate review is the power that matters most to auto drivers, and it varies the most. In a prior approval state, an insurer needs the commissioner's sign-off before a new rate takes effect; in a file-and-use state, it can use the rate on filing and the regulator can object afterward. California's proposition 103 made the commissioner's pre-approval powers unusually strong, and the same law is why the office is elected there; the state's rules are explained in California Proposition 103 explained. For the general mechanics, read how car insurance rate approval works.
None of this means a commissioner can do whatever voters want. The next two examples show both the reach and the limits.
Example: California and pandemic premium refunds
In April 2020, as stay-at-home orders emptied the roads, California Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered auto insurers to return part of the premiums they had collected. A March 2021 press release from the California Department of Insurance says that order saved drivers "more than $1.75 billion" in 2020, then reports that after reviewing insurer data the commissioner concluded companies had continued to overcharge, and directed them to report by April 30 how they would return additional premium. The numbers and the characterization are the department's own, and insurers have disputed the commissioner's conclusions, so treat the release as a statement of the regulator's position. The refund wave itself is covered in premium refunds: when regulators order money back to drivers.
Example: Washington and the credit scoring ban
Washington's elected commissioner, Mike Kreidler, tried to bar insurers from using credit-based scoring in rates. According to the state's October 2021 news release, a Thurston County Superior Court judge granted "a narrow ruling in favor of the insurance industry's argument" against his emergency rule. The commissioner said he had "authority to take continuing action to protect consumers" and would keep pursuing a permanent ban. An Associated Press report carried by Carrier Management in August 2022 says he then adopted a permanent rule in February 2022, that a Thurston County judge invalidated it, finding he had exceeded his statutory authority, and that Kreidler responded that the ruling "confirms that the best place to permanently address this issue is in the legislature."
The lesson cuts both ways. An elected commissioner can act boldly and campaign on consumer protection. But courts still read the statute, and an issue the legislature has not authorized the commissioner to settle goes back to the legislature. If you care about credit-based pricing in your state, see credit-based insurance scores and car insurance for what the rules look like.
The case for electing the commissioner
Supporters make three arguments, and they were all voiced when Washington's Senate considered, in 2014, a bill that would have replaced the elected commissioner with a board. Staff summarized testimony from opponents of the bill that the commissioner "is accountable to the citizens that elect that position," that moving authority to an unelected board "leaves no single point of accountability," and that "consumers are well served by having an elected official directly accountable to them." The bill passed the Senate 30-17 per the bill report, which is a reminder that the question is live even in states with a long elected tradition.
Put plainly, the pro-election case is:
- Direct accountability. A commissioner who approves a hated rate increase can be voted out. An appointed commissioner answers to a governor, who has many other issues to weigh.
- Independence from the governor. An elected regulator can take on an insurer, or the legislature, without needing the governor's blessing. California voters wrote exactly that independence into the commissioner's job in 1988.
- A public platform. Elected commissioners campaign on consumer issues, put insurance in the news and get invited to hearings. An appointed director is often invisible to most voters.
The case for appointing the commissioner
Opponents of elections make a mirror-image set of arguments, and the Washington Institute Foundation's 1999 study is one of the clearer statements of them. It argued that appointment would "take campaign money out of the process," assure that skilled, experienced commissioners are chosen, and increase accountability. It reported that candidates in the most recent contest before its release had raised and spent over $797,000, and it argued that incumbents were rarely removed, with the incumbent either re-elected or retiring voluntarily in 87 percent of elections since the office was created. Those are the study's own figures from 1999 and are old, but the structure of the argument is the one reform advocates still use.
The most recent version comes from inside an elected office. Mississippi Commissioner Mike Chaney has said for years that the job should be appointed and confirmed by the state Senate. In a January 2026 Insurance Business report, Chaney said an appointed role would help "eliminate campaign contributions from regulated industries." The same report notes a 2025 bill, HB 1180, that would have switched the office to appointment starting in 2028 and did not advance out of committee, and that Chaney announced in August 2025 that he intended to run for re-election in 2027. Elected officials arguing for the abolition of their own election is a small piece of evidence that the campaign-finance issue is felt from the inside.
The pro-appointment case, summarized:
- Expertise. A governor or a board can recruit someone with insurance and actuarial experience, the way the Texas statute requires.
- Less campaign money. No campaign means no need to raise funds from the industry being regulated.
- Less career politics. The 1999 study argued that the office had become "a political stepping stone." Whether that is fair varies by state and decade.
Campaign money and insurer influence
The sharpest criticism of electing regulators is that the people being regulated can fund the campaigns. The research here is thinner than the rhetoric.
A 2024 paper in Risk Management and Insurance Review by Patricia Born, James Bradley Karl and Lawrence Powell looked at more than 67,000 campaign contributions by the insurance industry to insurance regulators and governors, drawn from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. According to the abstract on IDEAS/RePEc, incumbency was associated with a 20 to 30 percent increase in the share of contributions going to the incumbent regulator's party. Because incumbents are overwhelmingly favored to win, the authors conclude that insurers appear "more concerned with access to the elected official than with supporting a candidate that shares the industry's goals."
That finding is narrower than it may sound. It does not say that contributions change decisions, and it does not compare consumer outcomes such as premiums or complaint rates between elected and appointed states. It says that the industry gives most to people likely to win, which is how access-seeking donors behave in any election. Anyone who tells you the data prove elected commissioners are captured, or that they prove the opposite, is going beyond what this paper reports.
Mississippi's proposed fix, described in the Insurance Business article, shows the policy alternative: Senate Bill 2918 would make it unlawful for entities regulated by the Mississippi Insurance Department to contribute to a commissioner or candidate and set penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and a minimum of one year in jail. Commissioner Chaney called the bill ambiguous and "not the right solution." If you live in an elected state, your legislature has this option too, and the contribution rules for commissioner races, along with their disclosure reports, are public. A search of your state's campaign finance database for the commissioner's committee takes a few minutes.
Appointment does not remove the influence question; it relocates it. Governors take campaign contributions, and appointed commissioners are often drawn from the industry or from law firms that serve it. What changes is who the regulator answers to.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Elected commissioner | Appointed commissioner |
|---|---|---|
| Who chooses | Voters, in a statewide election | Usually the governor, sometimes with Senate confirmation; a few states use another official or body |
| Typical accountability | Direct, at the next election | To the governor and, where required, the legislature |
| Campaign fundraising | Yes, including from insurers | None for the regulator; the governor's campaign still raises money |
| Qualification rules | Often minimal in law; voters decide | Can be written into statute (Texas requires administration and insurance experience) |
| Independence | From the governor | From voters, not from the governor |
| Continuity | Tied to election cycle | Tied to the governor's term or a fixed term (Texas: two years) |
| Examples | California, Washington, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi | Texas and most other states |
Nothing in this table says which column produces cheaper insurance. Premiums in a state depend on loss costs, litigation, weather, theft, population density and the legal system far more than on how the commissioner got the job.
How to find and use your commissioner
You do not need to know the model to use the office. Here is a short process.
- Find the department. Search for your state's department or division of insurance and confirm the website ends in .gov. The NAIC also publishes a directory of state departments; see The NAIC explained for what the association is and does.
- Identify who runs it. The department's "about" page names the commissioner or director and usually says whether the person is elected, appointed or confirmed. Look at the term dates.
- Check the rate-review rules. The department's auto page or the state car insurance requirements lookup tool can point you toward rate filing and complaint rules, and your insurer's filings are often public on the department site or on SERFF Filing Access.
- File complaints through the consumer services unit, not by writing to the commissioner personally. The unit logs the complaint and gives the insurer a deadline to respond. how to file a complaint against a car insurance company walks through the steps.
- Comment on rate hearings and rules if you care about a pending proposal. See rate hearings and intervenors: how the public challenges an increase for how public participation works.
- Use the ballot if the office is elected. Read the candidates' positions on rate review and consumer protection, and look up who funded each campaign.
Common questions
Do elected commissioners keep car insurance cheaper?
There is no reliable evidence in the sources reviewed here that they do. The research on campaign contributions looks at how money flows, not at premiums. Rates track loss costs and the legal environment, and states with elected commissioners include both high- and low-cost markets: NAIC's 2023 average expenditure data put Louisiana among the five highest and North Dakota the lowest.
Can I vote on the commissioner in my state?
Only in the eleven states that elect the office. In the other states, you influence the choice indirectly by voting for a governor or legislators who appoint or confirm the regulator.
Does the NAIC treat elected and appointed commissioners differently?
No. All of them are members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the NAIC's own description says it is governed by the chief insurance regulators of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The association writes model laws, and each state decides whether and how to adopt them.
What if I think my commissioner is too close to the industry?
Look at the public record: enforcement orders, rate decisions, complaint data and campaign finance reports. The department's published consent orders and fines show how aggressively the office polices insurers; reading a regulatory action: consent orders, fines and what they mean explains how to read them. A licensed attorney or the state's consumer advocate can advise on specific disputes about a decision.
Does a commissioner set my rate?
In most states, not directly. Insurers file rates, the department reviews them under state law, and the commissioner approves, disapproves or lets them take effect depending on the state's system. Individual quotes come from the insurer's approved rating plan.
Key takeaways
- Eleven states elect their insurance commissioner (as of a January 2025 roster); the other states appoint, mostly through the governor.
- The department's divisions, not the commissioner personally, handle rate review, complaints, exams and fraud; the model rarely changes who handles your file.
- Statutes and courts bound every commissioner: California's refund orders and Washington's credit scoring rule show both the reach and the limits.
- Research on industry contributions shows incumbent-favoring giving, but it does not show that contributions change decisions or premiums.
- Whichever model your state uses, the practical tools are the same: the complaint process, public rate filings, hearings and, where the office is elected, the ballot.