Georgia voters have shaken up the state's insurance regulatory office, with Democrat Keisha Sean Waites projected to defeat Republican incumbent John King for insurance commissioner. The result ends King's bid for a second full term and hands the post to a former state lawmaker and Atlanta city councilmember who built her campaign around rising home and auto insurance costs.
CBS News projected the outcome, reporting that “Democrat Keisha Sean Waites is also projected to become the next insurance commissioner, defeating Republican incumbent John King,” according to CBS News. As Atlanta News First framed it, the result marks an upset win in a statewide race that had pitted a sitting commissioner against a challenger with deep roots in Georgia politics and disaster-response work.
King's path to the office began under unusual circumstances. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed King to the post in 2019, a move that followed the federal indictment of then-commissioner Jim Beck on wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering charges. King went on to win election to a full term in 2022, according to the Ledger-Enquirer, which reported he was “Appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019 before being elected to a full term in 2022.” This year he sought a second full term in the 2026 midterms, running as the Republican incumbent against Waites, the Democratic nominee.
Waites Brings Decades in Government and Disaster Work
Waites is no newcomer to Georgia politics. She served in the Georgia House of Representatives for three terms, representing District 60 from 2012 to 2017, and later represented Post 3 at-large on the Atlanta City Council from 2022 until resigning in March 2024, per the same Ledger-Enquirer account. Before returning to elected office, she worked in emergency response and disaster recovery, including a stint in the U.S. Small Business Administration's Disaster Assistance Division and roles in FEMA's Legislative and External Affairs divisions.
This was not Waites's first run at the insurance commissioner's seat. She ran as the Democratic nominee for Georgia insurance and safety fire commissioner against King in 2022 before this year's rematch, and she also ran in the 2020 special congressional primaries for Georgia's 5th Congressional District, a race that followed the death of Rep. John Lewis. To secure this year's nomination, Waites first had to win a June runoff, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which noted she “won a June runoff to claim the Democratic nomination.”
Affordability Dominated the Campaign
Insurance affordability emerged as a central theme of the race, with the AJC describing it as a significant consumer concern, noting “affordability taking center stage as a key issue in Georgia's 2026 elections.” Waites campaigned on challenging rate hikes from home and auto insurers, pushing to outlaw premiums based on ZIP code or credit score, and creating a task force dedicated to investigating scams targeting vulnerable residents, the newspaper's reporting shows.
King countered with his own consumer-focused platform, proposing to raise the maximum fines state regulators can levy against insurers and to expand legal avenues for Georgians to recoup funds from insurance companies, according to the same AJC report. The commissioner's office carries broad authority over the industry, overseeing insurance companies, licensing agents, regulating industrial loan offices, investigating suspected fraud, and conducting fire safety inspections.
Rate Reviews and a Shifting Insurance Market
The debate over affordability unfolded against the backdrop of a 2023 state law, House Bill 221, which gave the commissioner's office new power to scrutinize rate increases before they hit consumers. A press release from the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance states the law gives the commissioner the ability to review car insurance rate filings before they take effect.
The policy fight also comes amid broader shifts in how Georgians shop for coverage. A J.D. Power study found the insurance shopping rate reached 13.1% in 2023, its highest level since June 2021, according to reporting from Repairer Driven News. That uptick in shopping behavior reflects the same cost pressures both candidates cited throughout the campaign.
