Washington State gets competitive insurance commissioner race

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Washington state is the second U.S. state to have a competitive election for its insurance commissioner. 

Patty Kuderer, candidate for Washington insurance commissioner.

Until May, North Carolina had been the only state with a competitive race. Patty Kuderer, a Democrat, was expected to be the only candidate in Washington, but several others filed to run during the state’s May 6-10 filing period. The state’s insurance commissioner race is non-partisan, so there were no primaries. The leading Republican challenging Kuderer is Phil Fortunato.

Phil Fortunato, candidate for Washington insurance commissioner

According to Ballotpedia, Kuderer has raised $138,009 in campaign funds so far, while Forunato has raised $2,750. No fundraising figures were reported for the other candidates, including Democrats Bill Boyd, Chris Chung and John Pestinger; Republican Justin Murta; and independents Khristopher Greene, Jonathan Hendrix and Tim Verzal.

Kuderer and Fortunato have both been state senators since 2017. The current commissioner, Mike Kreidler, who has served in the role since 2001, is not running for reelection.