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NU Online News Service, July 2, 11:22 a.m. EDT
A longtime Allstate agent and veteran of the Florida House of Representatives has announced his candidacy for Florida chief financial officer in a race likely to see some focus on the state’s fractured insurance market.
Rep. Pat Patterson, a five-term legislator, who is chairman of the House Insurance, Business, and Financial Affairs Policy Council, will be running in the Republican primary against State Senate President Jeff Atwater, announced in May.
So far, no Democrat has announced his or her intention to run for the CFO post. The deadline for all candidates to file an intention to run is not until May of 2010.
Democrat Alex Sink is leaving the CFO spot to run for governor, a position falling vacant with Republican Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to campaign for the U.S. Senate rather than seek reelection.
Mr. Patterson, who announced yesterday in his hometown of DeLand in Central Florida, in an interview, did not mention insurance as a focus of his campaign, but in an answer to a question said “somebody will probably try to make it an issue” because he works in that sector.
The representative, who said in August he will become an independent agent after 31 years with Allstate, said he thought if Sen. Atwater were to get the nomination, “banking would be an issue” because of his opponent’s background as chief executive officer, chairman and president of Barnett Bank of Broward County from 1996-1998.
Mr. Atwater has already posted an advertisement on the Internet mentioning “heartbreaking stories” of hurricane victims “dropped by their insurers after many years of no claims,” citing his work for a “Truth in Coverage” law.
The senator says there is much more that needs doing. His messages express intentions to:
• “Hold BIG INSURERS accountable to policyholders.”
• “Standardize risk models so customers are not overcharged.”
• “Force insurers to pass cost savings to customers.”
• “Prosecute insurers who skirt the law and use loopholes to pad corporate profits at the expense of policyholders.”
Mr. Patterson, facing a term limit, said he is running because people who approached him to run “said they would like an alternative to Sen. Atwater,” he related.
While Mr. Atwater may be higher profile as Senate president, Mr. Patterson said, “he doesn’t carry a hammer,” noting that Ms. Sink, who did not previously hold elective office had successfully run against the previous Senate president Tom Lee.
Mr. Patterson said while working in insurance as an agent his responsibility has been “to the consumer, my client,” and much of the work of the Department of Financial Services, which the CFO heads, involves protecting the consumer and consumer education.
In addition to a focus on consumer protection, he said his focus in the job would also be on protecting state bank accounts.
Mr. Patterson is a Navy veteran and former public school teacher whose background also includes two terms on the Volusia County Council.