Commissioner of Insurance Race: Wayne Goodwin (D, incumbent) vs. Mike Causey (R)
This race features yet another rematch of a 2012 contest. Wayne Goodwin, the Democratic incumbent (pictured), is seeking reelection to a third term. For his Republican opponent Mike Causey, it will be his second time facing off against Goodwin but his fifth time running for the office. He no doubt hopes that fifth time’s the charm in 2016 – and it might be.
Goodwin, a former state legislator and party activist, is known for his populist style. But the state of the insurance market in North Carolina could be a disadvantage to him. Goodwin even sent a letter to the feds saying that Obamacare had disrupted the marketplace in the state, an interesting concession for a Democrat.
As for Mike Causey, he wants to inject free market principles into the insurance marketplace. This, he feels, will result in more insurance companies doing business in North Carolina and a more competitive business environment. He feels that the status quo isn’t working and that a change is needed.
Goodwin points to his successes in office, including over 1,500 arrests for insurance-related crimes, resulting in $72 million in restitution for its victims. But more needs to be done, he says. The job is a balancing act between keeping rates low and making sure insurance companies can make a profit. It also requires stability. He implies that his opponent’s proposed plans would further disrupt an already shaky marketplace.
Interestingly, both candidates benefit from name recognition. Causey has run and lost for this office so many times that voters may well think he’s the incumbent. Perhaps as a result of this, Causey came closer than any other GOP challenger to defeating a Democratic incumbent on the Council of State four years ago, losing only 51.9%-48.1%. With Obamacare continuing to be a major factor in the insurance environment, it’s not hard to imagine Causey slightly improving on that margin and becoming the first GOP Commissioner of Insurance in the state’s history – the culmination of over two decades of working to win the office. But for now, the Democratic incumbent has the advantage.
Race Rating: Leans Democratic
2012 Result
51.9% Goodwin
48.1% Causey
Voter Registration
40.2% Democratic
30.5% Republican
28.9% Unaffiliated
70.3% White
22.3% Black
7.4% Other
Results in Other Elections
2014 Senate
48.8% Tillis
47.3% Hagan
2012 President
50.4% Romney
48.4% Obama
2012 Governor
54.6% McCrory
43.2% Dalton
2010 Senate
54.8% Burr
43.1% Marshall
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
Since publication of the original post the candidates have filed their June 30th campaign finance reports and those reports tell the tale. By all accounts, Goodwin has raised over $960,000 and has $737,000 cash on hand for the 2016 race and Causey has raised only a fraction of that with $34,000 raised and has only $15,000 cash on hand as of June 30th. Causey’s only strategy is apparently to pray for strong Donald Trump/Pat McCrory wins in North Carolina, because Causey is certainly a weak fundraiser and a candidate whose own supporters won’t broadly invest in to any great degree – even though Causey has run for office nonstop over the last 30 years. Goodwin has 60 times the financial resources of Causey in the most critical period, the final four months of the 2016 campaign. The race will still be close but not because of who Causey is or any substance that Causey has but the fact he’s got an “R” beside his name. Goodwin should still be able to pull out a win because he has a gigantic, stronger edge financially and has an admirable record of consumer protection.
“With Obamacare continuing to be a major factor in the insurance environment, it’s not hard to imagine Causey slightly improving on that margin” write Mr. Wynne.
What a “conservative voice” can imagine is mind-boggling to the normal mind. Given the incredibly high rate of sign-ups for Obamacare in NC, and the ongoing, unrelenting pubic demand for the legislature to expand Medicaid for those who can’t afford insurance even with subsidies, and for those who fall into the gap — deliberately created by the GOP lege and the empty-suit governor — the “major factor” of Obamacare is that residents want better, more affordable plans overseen by a legitimate consumer advocate as commissioner: Wayne Goodwin. They’re NOT seeking a lifetime insurance agent and industry lobbyist as their “watchdog.” But Mr. Wynne, being a Republican mouthpiece, can clearly imagine anything.
Furthermore, as the GOP has continued to point out with some glee, this is the year of anti-establishmentarians. So all those experienced, established Republican candidates from Bush to Rubio to Kasich to Cruz were laughed out of the arena in favor of the upstart Trump, why on earth would voters support someone whose only claim to fame is “over two decades of working to win the office.”
In addition to agreeing with the previous posts, I note that combatting insurance fraud is not on of Causey’s listed priorities. As one who spent a significant part of my working life as an insurance-fraud investigator, I have to wonder if Causey considers fraud to be an acceptable component of the “free market”. If so (or equally so if he chooses to ignore fraud or make it a low priority), he will be hard-pressed to lower the cost of insurance in NC. In my experience, “free market” is code for “chow’s up: everybody hit the trough”.
Why has Mike Causey run & failed so many times for Commissioner of Insurance? People do wonder why he’s running a fifth time for an office he’s lost each time over the last 24 years. It’s because Republican Mike Causey is a former long-time paid lobbyist for the insurance industry & an insurance executive, while claiming to be a “consumer advocate.” (Mike Causey is a consumer advocate? Hogwash.)
And now that he’s become a Tea Party adherent, morphing over time from his first failed race for Insurance Commissioner in 1992, and now that he’s become a Donald Trump-sycophant, he’s hoping to tag along with right-wing Republicans and finally win the race that he (and the insurance industry) would love him to have.
If he’s elected, then North Carolina will quickly lose its status as having among the very lowest car insurance costs in the country. And if he’s elected, you’ll see the award-winning Department of Insurance be another victim of massive deregulation, which only means higher insurance costs, fewer consumer protections, and certain insurance company control of an agency that exists to protect us. For those reasons Mike Causey is unacceptable.
When Causey says “free market principles” and “de-regulation”, that’s code language for giving the insurance industry more power and taking away power from the people, from the consumers like us.
If fifth time is the charm for Mike Causey, then North Carolina’s luck has run out.
As for me, I’m voting for the real consumer advocate who has fought the insurance industry for almost 30 years as a lawyer, legislator, and Commissioner of Insurance: Wayne Goodwin, Democrat.
Goodwin is a corrupt politician. Have you heard about his Raleigh Mafia? Look at the news on WBTV showing text messages in between Goodwin and Mark Bibbs, a drunk crook. Goodwin has failed to do his job and allows a crooked bail bondsman “Carl the Godfather Vakentine” to own him. More to come. But I would support Causey. Simply because I cannot find any skeletons in Causey’s closet.
You must be joking! Wayne Goodwin approved a rate hike for BCBS last summer in the middle of the crooked mess they created. Now they have announced they want more hikes even though the issues with them have not been settled. Wayne Goodwin refuses to discuss BCBS or hold them accountable. Wonder how much they contribute to his campaign.
I have a background in business and insurance. I only hear the phrase “free market principles” when it is spewed from a Republican’s mouth. “Free market principals” is not something highly recognizable if at all in either field I mentioned. Are these “free market principals” created as well as “injected” as you note? And exactly where are they “injected?” In the consumers’ pocketbook?
Would these “free market principals” be akin to the actions of legislators, and their crowing about tax breaks across the board for citizens of NC when in reality they stiffed small business owners through a deduction elimination and began taxing services previously untaxed?
While I’m sure I could google “free market principals”, maybe you can cite a connection to Mr. Causey’s plan. Now that I’m retired, I follow politics more closely. “Free market principals” is rolled out almost weekly from a Republican; a nauseating “talking point” if you will. Whether on a state or national letter, these “principles” are a concoction either originating from the RNC, a lobbyist on the RNC level with some level of self-enrichment buried in the fine print or, a member of the donor class who is funding a politician to do his or her bidding.
North Carolina doesn’t have any Republican politicians at present who are cable of actually doing something good for the State much less being involved in beneficial idea creation.
Maybe you can enlighten us further.
Yeah, because the Party of HB2 is doing a great job of attracting businesses.