Kuderer, Fortunato lead in WA insurance commissioner primary

Aug. 6—Sitting state senators Patty Kuderer and Phil Fortunato are leading in the race for state insurance commissioner, out of a pool of eight candidates in Tuesday's primary.

As of Tuesday, Kuderer, D-Bellevue, had about 45% of the votes, while Fortunato, R-Auburn, had nearly 28%.

Republican Justin Murta, an executive with the insurance broker Acrisure, had netted about 10% of the votes on Tuesday evening. John Pestinger, a Democrat who works for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, had just under 6% of the votes.

The other candidates — Jonathan Hendrix, Bill Boyd, Chris Chung and Tim Verzal — each netted less than 4% of the votes.

It's the first time in more than 20 years that Washington will have a new person in that role, after current commissioner Mike Kreidler, who did not seek reelection, took office in 2001.

The insurance commissioner, while less publicized than some other statewide offices contested this year, plays a key role in setting insurance rates for car, home and health insurance. As insurance costs have risen due to increasing car accidents, climate change-related disasters and inflation, candidates have promised to stabilize rates.

But they've proposed vastly different methods for doing so.

Fortunato said he would reduce regulations and try to increase competition between companies to drive down rates. He also advocated for removing mandatory coverage for services like birth control, instead opting to have people buy policies that cover specific things.

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Kuderer said she would be careful about removing regulations to avoid stepping on consumer protections. But she said she'd push companies to be transparent about price hikes and educate consumers on how things like climate change-based disasters can affect their policies. She also said she would prioritize moving Washington toward universal health care. The Legislature must vote to establish it, but the commissioner would be responsible for implementing the program.

Kuderer and Fortunato, who are already serving in public office and raised considerably more money than their opponents, were competing against several candidates who had previous work experience related to the insurance industry.

The insurance commissioner's race is one of the few statewide offices that won't have an incumbent seeking re-election this fall.

In other races, sitting Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck was leading, with Republican Dan Matthews behind at 23% among a field of five. Heck, a Democrat, pulled in 49% of the votes as of Tuesday night.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, netted 49% of the votes in initial returns, and is likely to face Republican Dale Whitaker in November. Whitaker had 37% of the vote in Tuesday's tally.

State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti will run against Sharon Hanek in the general election. And State Auditor Pat McCarthy will run against Matt Hawkins this November.

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