One of the challenges of being a swing state is that presidential campaigns tend to suck up a lot of attention in North Carolina – to the detriment of other important statewide races on the ballot that don’t get as much coverage. In an ongoing series, we’ll break down the statewide races here, on the WUNC Politics Podcast, and in the WUNC Politics Newsletter.
Republican incumbent Mike Causey is seeking a third term as the Insurance Commissioner of North Carolina but is facing a challenge from Democrat Natasha Marcus who has represented Mecklenburg County in the state Senate for three terms. These two will go head-to-head on the ballot for the statewide Council of State seat.
What does the Insurance Commissioner do?
The Insurance Commissioner gets the final say on whether insurance companies can raise the rates you pay for home and auto insurance. And this year’s election for the position comes amid a proposed 42% average homeowners insurance premium hike. The commissioner oversees insurance fraud and consumer protection work at the agency.
Also, whether it’s Causey or Marcus, the next insurance commissioner will likely be very involved with the recovery and rebuilding efforts in western North Carolina after the devastation brought by Helene. In a candidates’ forum earlier this month, Marcus used Helene to draw a contrast against Causey.
“Climate change is real; we ought to admit and tackle it. My opponent and his party refuse to do that,” Marcus said. “More storms (like this) are coming. North Carolina is particularly vulnerable.”
Both candidates agree that in the wake of the flooding in western North Carolina, more homeowners need to have access to flood insurance — and often the mapping and data used to make coverage decisions are outdated or inaccurate.
Who is Mike Causey?
Causey, 74, is an Army veteran who worked for more than two decades in the insurance business, including time owning an agency.
A native of Guilford County, Causey says he’s increased the agency’s law enforcement resources to crack down on insurance fraud. He has also occasionally clashed with fellow Republicans in the state legislature, who voted in 2023 to take the role of state fire marshal away from his office. Causey faced two primary challengers — Andrew Marcus and C. Robert Brawley — but won with 60.6% of the vote.
Who is Natasha Marcus?
Marcus, 55, has a law degree from Duke University and lives in Davidson. She’s an attorney and community leader who currently serves on the Senate committee overseeing insurance issues.
After losing a race for a state House seat in 2014, she was elected to the state Senate in 2018 and reelected by wide margins in 2020 and 2022. In the Democratic primary for Insurance Commissioner, she defeated David Wheeler by garnering north of 77% of the vote.
What are Causey and Marcus saying about the election?
Causey says he’s opposed to the current homeowners' insurance rate hike proposal, and he notes that he’s negotiated with insurance companies in the past to secure smaller increases than they’ve initially proposed.
“We have reached settlements (on proposed rate hikes) that have been as close to zero as we possibly could get under the circumstances of the economy,” Causey says. “And so, for example, on one of the automobile settlements, the industry was requesting a 30% across-the-board increase, and we ended up negotiating a settlement of 9% spread out over two years.”
But Marcus says that’s the wrong approach, and the negotiated increases are costing consumers. She thinks the commissioner should be holding full public hearings on rate hikes more often.
“There's not a public record of what's discussed there (in negotiations). We don't know how many wink-winks are exchanged,” Marcus says. “We do know that those very same insurance companies’ PACs and their top executives fund Mike Causey’s campaigns, and that makes me really believe that is not all on the up and up. We cannot trust that he's making us the deal that is best for North Carolina consumers.”
For more on Mike Causey, Natasha Marcus and the North Carolina Insurance Commissioner race in 2024, read and subscribe to the WUNC Politics Newsletter and listen to full conversations with them on the WUNC Politics Podcast.
