Georgia Insurance, Fire Safety Commissioner: John King, Keisha Waites

John King (R)

Before becoming commissioner, King had not held political office but had an extensive career in law enforcement, serving as Doraville’s police chief, as commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in the U.S. Army, and retiring as a major general, per his official bio.

He has acknowledged his untraditional political background at a campaign event for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson. But he says he was appointed to restoring confidence in the agency after the previous commissioner was convicted of stealing from a former employer.

“People are asking, ‘What the hell possessed Governor Kemp to appoint a cop and a soldier to be the insurance commissioner?…Well, what was he thinking about?’ But you know what? We were in trouble. We had a challenge where we had leadership that was not strong enough to serve the people of Georgia,” said King at a recent Rick Jackson campaign event.

He says he has spent the last seven and a half years repairing the damage and working to hold insurers accountable.

“I’m not owned by insurance. I’m not an insurance guy. I will always be a cop, and I will always be a soldier protecting Georgia consumers,” he said.

Keisha Waites (D)

Waites says her experience as a state lawmaker and a federal worker focused disaster assistance give her insight into the insurance world.

“I’ve seen insurance work, and I’ve seen many failures in insurance, and I believe that expertise, those relationships, I bring those to the table that could possibly assist with some of the challenges,” said Waites.

Waites has launched several unsuccessful bids for office, including a 2025 bid for the Public Service Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities.

“So in this particular business,” Waites said, referring to politics. “You have some victories and then you have some losses. I would attribute my losses to lack of resources, funding.”

John King (R)

King said he plans to keep a close watch on how insurance companies are using artificial intelligence. But he said he also wants to do a better job making sure consumers know they have an ally in his office that is “only a phone call or only email away.”

He says he brings a fighting spirit to his work, pointing to the $100 million he says his office has recovered from insurers for consumers.

“I keep their feet to the fire, and I will continue doing so. And so I’m very proud of the work that we have done. But I will continue fighting because the fight is not done,” he said.

While his Democratic candidate has pushed Medicaid expansion as one of her campaign promises, King has highlighted his efforts to transition the state from Obamacare to Georgia Access, a state-based health insurance exchange.

Keisha Waites (D)

For disaster relief, she wants to require insurance companies to have enough bandwidth to ensure that those affected by local incidents can be paid out in around 30 days. She promises to address redlining, zip code and credit score discrimination, which can raise automobile rates for those in lower-income communities, she said. Challenging insurance hikes and creating a fraud task force are part of her top priorities.

Waites wants to also bolster trust in the insurance and fire commissioner’s office, arguing that it’s no longer an ally to consumers and has pointed to her track record of constituent services as a Georgia state representative to do so. Waites says the first thing she would do if elected is implement a consumer protection unit.

“The insurance commissioner’s office initially was set up as an advocacy agency for consumers. It is no longer that. This is an advocacy agency for special interests and for insurance companies,” said Waites.

Unlike her Republican counterpart, Waites wants to expand Medicaid, which she says will increase healthcare access and strengthen rural hospitals. Georgia is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.

“There is no logical explanation as to why we have not expanded Medicaid in Georgia. There is a 90-10 cost-share match where the feds pick up 90% of the bonds. You also see hospitals closing throughout the state of Georgia because of this, because there’s simply no funding,” said Waites.