OLYMPIA, Wash. – State Senator Patty Kuderer (D) is on track to be Washington’s next insurance commissioner.
Kuderer, who has represented the Bellevue area in the State Legislature since her appointment in 2015, focused her insurance commissioner campaign on expanding healthcare access and addressing the
Republican State Senator Phil Fortunato ran against Kuderer on a platform emphasizing private insurance and promising to knix the state’s long-term care program.
Most states allow the governor to appoint the commissioner rather than electing them independently.
Washington State’s constitution enshrined the insurance commissionership in the state’s executive branch during a populist movement which sought to make the government more accountable to voters than in eastern states.
Now that Kuderer appears poised to assume leadership of the agency that regulates Washington’s insurance industry, can look forward to handing his office off to a fellow Democrat.
