“The sexiest race on the ballot” – Grist

Hello everyone, and welcome back to state of emergency. I’m Jesse Nichols, a video producer and reporter at Grist, and today we’re going to talk about how worsening climate impacts are raising the profile of a largely overlooked section on state ballots: The race for insurance commissioner.

If you watched the presidential debate earlier this month, you might have been surprised by VP Kamala Harris’ response when asked about climate change. Instead of focusing on the dangers of drought or rising sea levels, her answer focused on home insurance. “It’s very real,” Harris said. “You ask anyone who lives in a state that has experienced these extreme weather events that is now either being denied home insurance or it’s being shelled out.”

Since 2020, the increasing number and severity of natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes have thrown home insurance markets into turmoil, leading to an explosive increase in premiums. And this election season, insurance commissioners — the state officials responsible for regulating the industry and approving rate increases — are suddenly in the hot seat.

I live in Washington – one of 11 states that elect insurance commissioners – and like many voters, I didn’t think much about this obscure position at the bottom of the ballot. And according to Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner, I wasn’t alone. “It’s just not something [voters] pay attention until things go wrong,” Jones said. “At the moment things are going wrong.”

In recent years, climate disasters have pushed many insurance companies in the reddrive a 33 percent increase in the average house premium nationwide.

Unaffordable premiums now represent one of the most tangible ways climate change affects everyday Americans. This election season, frustrated voters in some states are starting to pay attention to once-obscure insurance commissioners.

“This is the sexiest race on the ballot,” said Natasha Marcus, a North Carolina Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner. “Once people realize how directly it affects their wallets, they’re interested.” Marcus, a state senator, is challenging incumbent Commissioner Mike Causey after a controversial rate hike proposal earlier this year. In January, the insurance industry requested a 42 percent increase in home insurance rates. In certain coastal neighborhoods, it called for a 99 percent rate hike. The proposal was met with outrage: Causey’s office received more than 24,000 emails, and a public comment session held earlier this year was filled with about seven hours of angry testimony. Causey finally rejected the initial proposalwhich calls the rate increases “excessive and unfairly discriminatory” but has yet to decide on new insurance rates.

Marcus, currently tied with Causey in a recent poll, is concerned that insurance companies are using extreme weather as a pretext to charge for unreasonably high rates, suggesting a New York Times investigation it shows the state’s insurers have made a profit in 10 of the last 11 years. For this reason, her campaign is largely aimed at bringing more transparency to the rate-setting process.

Candidates across the country are also calling for more adaptation and resilience measures. In North Carolina, Marcus wants to expand a state program that provides grants for storm-proof roofs. And candidates in Washington and Montana would like to see insurance incentives offered to homeowners who implement fire resistance measures at their homes.

There’s a lot more to this story – more than we can fit in your inbox. To read the full report on how the insurance crisis is reshaping elections, click here.

What we read

Wake up extreme weather voters: A rash of floods and wildfires over the past decade has raised public awareness of global warming, and more voters now cite extreme weather as a main reason to act on climate change. My Grist colleague Syris Valentine has a story that breaks down this shift in detail.
Read more

How much does a hurricane cost: Hurricanes cause billions of dollars in damage, but their effects extend far beyond what insurers and government agencies can count. Grist reporters Matt Simon and Ayurella Horn-Muller have a story on how storms send a “ripple effect” through the economy.
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Helene approaches: A tropical system in the Caribbean is expected to become Hurricane Helene later this week and produce significant impacts on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The region has already seen several hurricane landfalls in recent years, including Category 1 Debby just a few months ago.
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Harris gets some star power: Vice President Kamala Harris got help from two big celebrities last week as she made her climate case to voters — actress Jane Fonda urged disaffected youth not to sit out the election, and science icon Bill Nye interrupted Harris during a speech at Duke in the swing state of North Carolina.
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Czechs vote after flooding: Voters in the Czech Republic voted in a legislative election last week in the wake of a massive flood event. The flood killed at least 24 people and destroyed voting infrastructure in dozens of small towns, forcing officials to open temporary polling places.
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