Elections: N.C. Insurance Commissioner

Name: Wayne Goodwin

Town of residence: Raleigh (native of Hamlet, NC)

Political office sought: NC Insurance Commissioner

Political affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website address: www.WayneGoodwin.org and www.RepublicansforGoodwin.com

Profession: Lawyer

Education: B.A. with Honors, UNC-Chapel Hill, 1989. Morehead Scholar. William Randolph Hearst/U.S. Senate Scholar.
Juris Doctor, UNC-Chapel Hill, 1992.
Governor's School. Institute of Political Leadership. Center for Creative Leadership. Mediator and Arbitrator schools.

Family information: Married to Melanie Wade Goodwin, also a former state legislator. Two young children, Madison and Jackson, ages 10 and 4, respectively. Mother lives in Rockingham, and other family members live in Hamlet and Wilmington.

Organizations or affiliations:
Edenton Street United Methodist Church;Raleigh Kiwanis Club; Honorary Chairman, NC Safe Kids; Chairman, Consumers Participation Board of Trustees (national); Chairman, Consumer Connections Working Group (national); Director, Dialectic & Philanthropic Societies Foundation; General Alumni Association, UNC-Chapel Hill

Political experience: Elected to four terms as State Representative, NC General Assembly (1996-2004), for Richmond/Montgomery/Scotland/Stanly counties
Served as Chairman or Vice Chairman of numerous legislative committees and studies
Appointed to serve as Assistant Insurance Commissioner for four years (2005-2008)
Served as Assistant State Fire Marshal (2005-2008)
Elected NC Insurance Commissioner in 2008
State Fire Marshal (2009-present)

Why are you running for office?

I'm running for office because we do NOT want the insurance industry to control the office of Insurance Commissioner or the Dept of Insurance. My opponent worked 30 years for insurance companies and the insurance industry; I have NEVER worked for the insurance industry. We don't need the fox guarding the henhouse!

I'm running for office because I believe we can and must make our ratemaking system fairer -- especially for coastal homeowners who have never had an insurance claim.

Also, I want to save us *another* $1.4 Billion in insurance rate cuts, refunds, rebates and restitution already instituted on my watch. I want to build on the record 600+ insurance fraud arrests that my team and I have had on my watch, including the historic, largest-ever insurance fraud bust ($5.3 Million) in state history. I want to keep our car insurance rates the very lowest in the South, as they are now, and fight insurance company attempts to eliminate refunds that I order for you. And, I want to ensure our firefighters have the tools they need to protect our homes & businesses. I want to continue with my award-winning consumer protection team, and the most transparent and hardest-working Department of Insurance in state history. My top priority -- fighting for you. (In fact, by my rejecting the insurance industry dwelling fire filing because it was too harsh on the coast etc., the insurance companies are suing me.)

What do you believe are the top three issues?

1) Seeking strategic reforms to NC laws that ensure FAIRER results for homeowners, particularly in eastern and southeastern NC, and incentives for more insurance companies to provide coverage in eastern NC while fighting any insurance rates determined to be excessive or unfairly discriminatory.

2) Protecting both our rank as having the LOWEST average car insurance rates in the South from Delaware to Texas, and my consumer protection role that I've used to cut insurance rates and order refunds/rebates statewide totalling >$1.4 Billion on my watch.

3) Keeping the federal government out of insurance regulation, or minimizing it as much as possible; consumers are best protected and rates are fairer and problems are more quickly remedied if the State of NC regulates insurance and not the feds.