Georgia insurance commissioner candidates 2026: Who's running

Two Democrats are headed to a June 16 runoff for the chance to challenge Georgia’s Republican incumbent Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King during the November general election.

Georgia’s insurance commissioner is responsible for overseeing insurance companies, licensing agents, regulating industrial loan offices and investigating suspected fraud. The office also conducts fire safety inspections of buildings.

Insurance costs remain a significant concern for consumers, with affordability taking center stage as a key issue in Georgia’s 2026 elections.

The Republican incumbent’s platform focuses on increasing fines and expanding legal pathways to take on bad-actor insurance companies, while Democrats are pushing more targeted policies to lower premiums.

Here are the candidates:

Democrats

DeAndre Mathis

Credit: Election website

Credit: Election website

For more than two decades, DeAndre Mathis has worked as both an insurance agent and tax accountant. He is also a U.S. Navy veteran and chair of the South Fulton Zoning Board of Appeals.

Mathis is running on a platform of ending “modern-day redlining” by doing away with rates based on ZIP codes and credit scores and increasing enforcement power against insurance scams.

He also wants to update the state’s fire inspection procedures to make sure schools, hospitals and rural communities are prioritized in the process.

Keisha Sean Waites

Credit: Keisha Sean Waites

Keisha Sean Waites is a former three-term Georgia House representative and served as an Atlanta City Council member in an at-large seat that represents the entire city.

Waites has also worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration on disaster relief efforts, including emergency responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Her campaign for insurance commissioner includes challenging rate hikes by home and auto insurers, advocating to outlaw ZIP code and credit score-based premiums and creating a dedicated task force to investigate scams that target seniors and other vulnerable residents.

Waites resigned from the House in 2017 to run for Fulton County Commission and similarly stepped down from her seat on City Council to run for Fulton County clerk in 2024. She’s also launched bids for U.S. House Districts 5 and 13.

Republican

John King (incumbent)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

John King became the first Hispanic constitutional officer in Georgia history when he was appointed to the position by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019. King arrived after the former commissioner was ousted because of fraud allegations. The Mexico native is also both a former Atlanta police officer and Doraville police chief. King was elected to serve a full four-year term in 2022.

While in office, he helped transition Georgia out of Obamacare onto the new state-run exchange and advocated for Kemp’s sweeping 2025 tort reform legislation.

His campaign platform includes cracking down on insurance companies by increasing maximum fines allowed against insurers, increasing legal avenues to recoup funds from insurers for residents and expanding investigations into potential scams.

King is also a retired U.S. Army major general and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. In May of last year, King announced he planned to launch a bid in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat incumbent Jon Ossoff, before dropping out four months later to run for reelection as insurance commissioner.

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