WA state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler will not seek reelection
Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler announced Monday he will not be seeking reelection to the position, just hours after Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he will not seek a fourth term.
“Serving alongside you as Insurance Commissioner for Washington state has been, and continues to be, the greatest honor of my life,” Kreidler said in a statement sent out Monday afternoon. “I’ve always said it was the best job I’ve ever had, and I still feel that way today.”
Kreidler served one term as congressman representing the 9th Congressional District in the mid-1990s. He was first elected to his current position in 2000, and was elected to his sixth term as commissioner in 2020.
“Now, it’s time for someone else to step forward and carry on this agency’s important consumer protection work,” Kreidler said in the statement. “I know that my successor will be in good hands with all of you helping to lead the way.”
The commissioner came under fire in 2022 for firing a top aide in his office over whistleblower complaints.
The governor and other officials called on Kreidler to resign at the time. Kreidler declined.
Jon Noski, the now former legislative director for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), initially filed a formal complaint against Kreidler in February 2022 after Noski asserted that Kreidler had been “bullying” him and “antagonizing” other staff members, Northwest News Network first reported in 2022. Kreidler also was accused of using racist slurs in his office.
This story was originally published May 1, 2023 at 4:05 PM.
