Chaney Poised to Gain Fourth Term as Miss. Insurance Commissioner; Panel Rules Fall Opponent Ineligible
September 25, 2015 by Thomas Harman, Washington Bureau manager, BestWeek: Tom.Harman@ambest.com
JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Michael Chaney will run unopposed in the general election after the state election panel ruled Reform Party candidate Johnny McLeod had failed to prove he met residency requirements.
McLeod had been on the list of candidates who qualified to run during the Aug. 4 primary elections and he filed a campaign contributions report showing $200 had been given toward his election through July 10, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Insurance commissioner candidates must be a qualified elector, at least 25 years of age and a citizen of the state for at least five years preceding the election date. McLeod’s voter registration record showed he registered to vote in Forrest County on Feb. 26, 2015. However, despite repeated requests by the board, McLeod failed to provide proof that he met residency requirements, said Secretary of State Director of Communications Pamela Weaver.
The change in McLeod’s status means that Chaney likely will keep the insurance commissioner’s job for a third four-year term. Chaney won the Republican nomination in the primary election, defeating automobile body shop owner John Mosley with more than 70% of the vote. No Democrat ran, which appeared to leave McLeod as the only remaining opponent.
Early in the campaign, Chaney said he would continue efforts to depopulate the state’s wind insurance pool and increase private insurer participation in that market. Also, he said he wanted to continue mitigation efforts in coastal regions in the hope of cutting homeowners’ insurance rates in high-risk flood areas. Mosley sought changes to auto body shop repair laws and attacked Chaney’s decision to accept campaign contributions from insurance companies (Best’s News Service, Aug. 5, 2015).
Chaney’s last term is partly remembered for the rejection by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of his request to have a state-based health insurance exchange in Mississippi, citing a lack of support from Gov. Phil Bryant, a fellow Republican, and a lack of coordination with other state agencies (Best’s News Service, Feb. 11, 2013). Chaney also spearheaded an effort by states to file a federal lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency over planned National Flood Insurance Program rate increases, a case that was dropped after Congress moved to pass litigation that slightly reduced the increase (Best’s News Service, April 15, 2014).