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In Miss. primary, incumbent Dale faces Katrina, Scruggs and fellow Dems

Hurricane Katrina has nearly knocked the wind out of George Dale’s reelection campaign for Mississippi insurance commissioner, a job he’s held
for 32 years. Dale is the longest-serving state insurance commissioner in the nation. He’s been crisscrossing the state for weeks, trying to win support in what’s proven to be his toughest race. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Hurricane Katrina has nearly knocked the wind out of George Dale’s re-election campaign for Mississippi insurance commissioner, a job he’s held for 32 years.

Dale is the longest-serving state insurance commissioner in the nation. He’s been crisscrossing the state for weeks, trying to win support in what’s proven to be his toughest race.

His challenges include a strong opponent in the Aug. 7 Democrat primary and a dispute with Democrats over party loyalty.

But his biggest albatross may be an advertising campaign financed by attorneys who represent policyholders in lawsuits against the insurance industry over rejected Hurricane Katrina claims.

“Had my first election been as different as this one, I never would have run again,” Dale said.

“The guy I’m running against is a class act. Gary has run a decent campaign, but I’m actually running to some degree against outside forces,” Dale said. “I’m talking Dickie Scruggs and those lawyers. They run cartoons and they’ve run ads and everything to try to discredit me statewide.”

Scruggs is a high-profile attorney who represents hundreds of homeowners in lawsuits against insurers.

As insurance commissioner, it was Dale’s job to referee the fallout from Hurricane Katrina. On Aug. 29, 2005, the killer hurricane’s storm surge enveloped the Gulf Coast, destroying thousands of homes and businesses.

After property owners scurried to recoup their losses from insurance policies, many of them learned that their coverage didn’t include the flooding.

In addition, many of the state’s insurance providers raised their premiums. At least one, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., the state’s largest homeowner insurer, suspended writing new homeowner and commercial policies.

Criticism was leveled at Dale, accused by some of favoring the insurance companies in payoff disputes with storm victims and by others of failing to force insurers to hold down their rates.

“Anytime someone does not get their claim paid, they’re unhappy and accuse you of being on the side of the insurance company. It’s nothing new. That goes on when there’s not an election,” Dale said.

But then Dale found himself at odds with the Scruggs law firm.

Scruggs has been critical of a mediation program sponsored by Dale’s office that allows homeowners to negotiate settlements with their insurers without resorting to litigation. Scruggs has said the program “has no teeth in it.”

Months after Scruggs’ legal team withdrew support for a January deal that called for State Farm to pay at least $50 million to some 35,000 policyholders, the insurer reached a separate but similar agreement with Dale.

Scruggs Ads

The Scruggs Katrina Group has run a series of television and newspaper ads critical of the insurance industry and unflattering of Dale. Zach Scruggs, the son of Dickie Scruggs and a member of the firm, described the ads as educational.

Still, one newspaper ad depicted Dale as a pig being covered in pink lipstick by State Farm Insurance executives. The caption read: “Lipstick On A Pig.”

“George Dale is obviously a big part of the problem on the Gulf Coast, and in Mississippi in general, because he’s the one that fills in the amount that every Mississippian has to pay for insurance,” Zach Scruggs said. “The fact that it is an election year doesn’t change the fact that we have an insurance crisis in Mississippi.”

Dale, 66, said many voters don’t understand the limitations and the complexities of his job. His duties include regulating the insurance industry, licensing manufacturers and dealers of mobile homes, serving as state fire marshal and chairman of the State Fire Academy.

He said most of his time is now devoted to settling the remaining Katrina claims and ensuring that insurers continue to provide coverage in the state at the lowest possible rates. He said two providers — Shelter Insurance Co. and Allstate Insurance Co. — have reduced rates in parts of north Mississippi.

“You can’t overlook the fact that this is the largest natural disasters in the history of the U.S.,” Dale said, adding that 99 percent of the claims have been settled.

However, Zach Scruggs said the term “settled” could mean closed, but not necessarily paid. Scruggs said many of his clients were lumped into the settled category. So far, he said the firm has won $200 million for 1,200 clients.

Dale, a former high school principal who served as an assistant to then-Gov. Bill Waller, earlier this year faced another controversy over his re-election bid. The state Democratic Executive Committee sought to remove him from the Democratic Party ballot. Committee members argued that Dale shouldn’t run under the party label because he publicly supported President Bush in 2004. In May, a judge reversed and put Dale back on the ballot.

Dale’s Democratic challenger, Gary Anderson, paints him as being too cozy with the insurance industry. Anderson, who oversaw Mississippi’s $10 billion budget as state fiscal officer between 2000 and 2003, points to campaign contributions Dale has received.

“It’s a pocketbook race. How can you look out for the consumers when you’re in the back pocket of the insurance company?” asked Anderson, who has said he would not accept any contributions from the industry.

Dale has more than twice the amount of campaign cash-on-hand as Anderson, and he defended contributions from local insurance agents, saying they want to elect someone who will fairly regulate them.

If Dale is successful in the primary, he still faces a Republican in November.

The Republicans running for insurance commissioner are state Sen. Mike Chaney of Vicksburg and Ronnie D. English of Vancleave.

Topics Carriers Mississippi Homeowners Hurricane Market