Jim Donelon, with 5 decades in politics, is under rare spotlight as insurance commissioner

In 1972, Richard Nixon was president, Elvis Presley remained the king – and Jim Donelon narrowly lost a race to be district attorney in Jefferson Parish.

Despite several other defeats, he went on to chair the Jefferson Parish Council and to serve four full terms in the state House. He's in his fourth term as Louisiana's insurance commissioner.

Now, for perhaps the first time in his five-decade career in Louisiana politics, Donelon is alone in the spotlight.

State legislators are meeting in a special session this week at his urging. Donelon is pressing them to approve new laws to stabilize the homeowners' insurance market in south Louisiana, which is in turmoil after four hurricanes slammed Louisiana in 2020 and 2021.

"I truly believe that if we do not do this, that thousands of homeowners below I-10 and I-12 are going to lose their homes," Donelon, a Republican from Metairie, told state lawmakers on Tuesday.

But the crisis also means that Donelon is under fire like never before.

"Louisiana residents are being priced out of their homes because Commissioner Jim Donelon failed at his primary responsibility — and he knows it," House Democrats tweeted Wednesday.

Luring insurers with cash

Donelon's plan calls for paying grants to insurance companies that could total $45 million to entice them to write policies in the state, with the hope that private firms will cover some of those now insured by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state insurer of last resort. The companies would have to put up a certain amount of their own money to qualify for the state subsidy. Donelon says it's the best hope for pulling homeowners out of Citizens, which is more costly than private coverage, saying a similar plan worked after Katrina, although the evidence is mixed.

Under a special rule, Donelon took center stage on the House floor Wednesday, answering questions from lawmakers for more than two hours. After an hour-long debate that followed, the House approved the plan supported by Donelon, 90-8. The measure now advances to the Senate Finance Committee for a hearing on Thursday. Final passage by the full Senate could come on Friday.

As the person who can help determine rates for most kinds of insurance policies, Donelon makes decisions that affect every Louisiana resident. But Donelon noted that when he runs for re-election every four years, an early campaign poll typically shows that half of the state's voters can't identify him.

While enjoying a highball during dinner Tuesday night near his home in Metairie, Donelon, 78, said he is planning to run for re-election again this year.

"Most voters on election day ask their neighbor or friend in the insurance industry how to vote," Donelon said. "They say I'm doing a good job."

Tim Temple, a fellow Republican who spent almost $2 million of his own money four years ago and nearly defeated Donelon, is challenging him again for a job that pays $115,000 per year.

At various points, Donelon had ambitions to be a prosecutor, governor, a congressman, a senator and a local judge, only to end up as the state's longest-serving insurance commissioner.

It was a natural fit for him, given that he had become an expert on insurance issues during his 19 years in the state House.

"What an incredible honor to be elected by the public to make decisions on their behalf that affect them every day in their homes and businesses," Donelon said. "I get to make those decisions based on my experience, knowledge and judgment. I found my niche."

'I'm boring'

Tall, patrician and easygoing, Donelon sounds as if he could be from anywhere, with none of the south Louisiana patois or quirkiness displayed by so many other state politicians.

"I'm boring," he said, recalling how a parody during the annual Gridiron Show in Baton Rouge several years ago spoofed a Dos Equis beer commercial by having someone portraying Donelon as "the most uninteresting man in the world."

Watching in the audience, the commissioner laughed and couldn't wait to call his wife to share the joke with her.

Donelon's career reaches so far back that he can spin tale after tale about Louisiana political titans who he either ran against or who supported him in one campaign or another – and are either dead or long retired.

A native of the city who graduated from the University of New Orleans and Loyola Law School, Donelon became fascinated with politics thanks to his uncle Tom, who served as the Jefferson Parish president for a dozen years in the 1960s and 1970s.

Jim Donelon began his political career as a Democrat by running for district attorney but narrowly losing to John Mamoulides, who went on to hold the job for 24 years.

Donelon, having chaired Edwin Edwards' campaign in Jefferson Parish, then became the new governor's executive counsel, a position he held until 1975. Edwards, at that time, was a favorite of the good-government crowd.

Donelon was elected to chair the Jefferson Parish Council in 1975 but gave up the position four years later when he ran for lieutenant governor and lost to Bobby Freeman.

In 1980, Gov. David Treen, who had just succeeded Edwards, supported Donelon's bid to replace him in Congress. Treen, the state's first Republican governor, got Donelon to switch to the GOP. But Donelon narrowly lost to Billy Tauzin, who went on to spend 25 years in Congress.

In 1982, Donelon won a special election to the House and kept winning re-election – even after The Times-Picayune reported in 1995 that, under a little-known perk for state legislators, he had given one of his daughters three years of scholarships to study at Tulane. He was among many lawmakers who awarded scholarships to relatives and politicians' children.

"It was a misjudgment," he said during dinner.

'Hottest griddle in the state'

Donelon left the House in 2001 to become the chief deputy insurance commissioner.

He assumed the top position in 2006 when Robert Wooley resigned to become a lobbyist.

Donelon oversaw a return to normalcy for Louisiana's homeowner insurance policies after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and has brought stability since then to a department that saw Wooley's three immediate predecessors go to prison.

"It's a very difficult job, but he's easy to work with," said state Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, who chairs the Senate Insurance Committee.

"He's open-minded to listen to your ideas. That's all I can ask for," said Rep. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge, who chairs the House Insurance Committee.

Critics say, however, that Donelon has been too cozy with the industry he regulates, noting that he receives most of his campaign contributions from insurance executives, agents and lobbyists.

They note that Donelon predicted that car insurance rates would drop by as much as 20% if lawmakers approved changes that made it more difficult for injured motorists to sue insurance companies. Rates have actually increased, he acknowledged.

Donelon said the legislation was amended and didn't impose far-enough reaching restrictions on lawsuits. He also said he frequently rules against the insurance industry's wishes.

For some time, Louisiana has had the highest auto insurance rates in the country. The state also has among the highest homeowner insurance rates, and a market in crisis.

That will all be fodder against Donelon as he runs for re-election.

"His seat is the hottest griddle in the state with all these hurricanes assaulting Louisiana," said former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. "How do you remain a popular insurance commissioner when the insurance companies are making the job untenable because of their actions? You're really dependent on Mother Nature, and Mother Nature as we know can be a bitch."