Kansas to elect insurance commissioner Nov. 3
Voters in Kansas have three candidates to choose from for insurance commissioner in the midterm election.
The four-year position has no term limits. Vicki Schmidt, a Republican, has served in the role since 2019. She did not run again so she could pursue the Republican nomination for governor.
The candidates include Dinah Sykes, Democrat minority leader of the Kansas Senate, Daniel Hawkins, Republican speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives and Libertarian Ric Koehn.
Sykes spent the last nine years in the Kansas legislature, according to her LinkedIn.
“For Dinah, it all comes down to two things: fairness and affordability,” her campaign website states. “She’s tired of seeing the insurance industry denying payment or blocking treatment for consumers, so she’s making it her mission to hold the insurance industry accountable so that they play by the rules.”
She lists affordability, consumer protection, transparency, and fairness as her priorities.
Hawkins’ website states he started a career in the insurance business in 1995. He specialized in employee benefits for small businesses, according to the website.
He was elected to the Kansas House in 2013.
“As Insurance Commissioner, I will wake up early every day and get to work, making sure we have an Insurance Department that stands strong for the hardworking people of Kansas,” Hawkins says on the website. “I’ll never stop fighting to lower costs, improve transparency, and hold fraudsters accountable.”
Hawkins’ website states he will focus on lower costs, holding the powerful and fraudsters accountable, and restoring competition and choice.
Ric Koehn does not have a campaign website.
The Libertarian Party of Kansas website notes Koehn’s priority is returning the insurance industry to the free market.
The website says he opposes all taxes, subsidies, foreign wars, and public education. He supports marijuana.
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