Causey Re-Elected as North Carolina Insurance Commissioner

Incumbent Mike Causey, a Republican, has defeated Democrat Wayne Goodwin in the third rematch between the two candidates for the position of North Carolina Insurance Commissioner.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday night that Causey beat Goodwin with 52% of the vote versus Goodwin’s 48%, a significantly higher margin than the 2016 race which saw Causey best Goodwin by just 39,000 votes.

In 2012, the two battled it out as well with Goodwin winning by a larger margin – nearly 160,000 votes. Causey received more than 2.7 million votes to Goodwin’s 2.5 million on 2020’s election night.

Causey said he is grateful to have another four years to further “tackle issues I have found to have hindered consumers, policyholders, agents and the fire service during my first term. I will continue to work with my team and the legislature to meet the insurance needs of North Carolinians, especially during states of emergencies, such as hurricanes, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Goodwin said in a statement it was an honor to serve two terms as North Carolina’s insurance commissioner, and he wished Causey well in his second term.

“For Tar Heel consumers and the market, it is my hope that he will be successful in addressing the concerns about affordable healthcare and preserving coverage for pre-existing conditions, navigating the property and casualty matters of this coastal state, and persuading the legislature to do a better job of addressing the needs of our firefighters,” he said.

Causey told Insurance Journal some of his priorities moving forward would include reforming the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies writing property insurance in the state and is not a part of NCDOI.

He said he’s worked while in office with the state legislature to “allow insurance companies more flexibility and more free market areas.”

“The political reality in North Carolina is the rate bureau overall has kept a very stable insurance market,” he said.

He also plans to continue fighting insurance fraud, which has been a top priority of his since he took office. He brought in attorneys to work with local district attorneys in prosecuting cases in North Carolina’s 100 counties and established the Criminal Investigations Reserve Unit to combat the extensive number of insurance fraud cases in the state.

Causey also cites on his website that he has worked with the state legislature to double the number of fraud and abuse investigators at the NCDOI.

“We want to put the fraud folks out of business, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.

Causey also plans on establishing a private flood insurance market in North Carolina.

He has worked closely with NCRB to develop private flood insurance policy forms that have been approved, and his goal now is to get insurance companies to begin offering flood coverage in the state by early next year.

“Dependent on the pricing and what the individual insurance companies would like to do, I believe you’ll see in North Carolina private flood insurance policies be offered for sale during 2021. And I think that’s a good thing for consumers,” he said.

Causey said he wants to continue moving toward a more free-market system “to the extent that we can with our system of regulation. Because I’m a free-market type person, I believe whatever we can do to attract more insurance companies here – the more, the better. Competition’s a good thing.”

Causey touted his “great working relationship” with the insurance industry, saying he has an open-door policy with them to discuss any issues and concerns.

“My role is to protect consumers and to make sure that the consumer is protected, hold insurance rates as low as possible. At the same time, I want to keep a healthy and stable insurance environment,” he said.

The hotly contested contest between Goodwin and Causey featured a particular focus on the corruption investigation by the FBI of North Carolina political donor and insurance CEO Greg Lindberg – now serving seven years in prison for attempts to bribe Causey to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business. Lindberg has denied the charges and is appealing his convictions.

According to reports, Lindberg gave more than $5 million to state and federal candidates since 2016, including Goodwin and Causey. Causey worked with authorities in the case against Lindberg, as well as sent a $240,000 donation to the FBI that he received from the state Republican Party, an apparent pass through from Lindberg. A former chairman of the state’s Republican Party is currently on probation for lying to federal agents for his role in the bribery scandal.

Neither Goodwin nor Causey were accused of any wrongdoing and both cooperated with authorities in the investigation.

Topics Fraud Flood North Carolina Market