If you are voting in the GOP primary you have an important choice to make in the Insurance Commissioner race | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Early voting starts today (6-28-12)

    While the attention will be focused on the U. S. Supreme Court the rest of this week, let none forget that Early Voting begins Thursday in the run-off primary election. Of course, here in Beaufort County the "biggie" is the race for House 6 pitting Arthur Williams and Mattie Lawson. That race has been characterized by many as "establishment/more of the same" with Williams and "send Raleigh a message" with Lawson. Lawson beat Williams in the first round, but Jeremy Adams served as a spoiler. He has since been pouting and in the process endorsed Williams. Observers predict that race will turn entirely on turnout, notably in Beaufort County.

    But there is another extremely important race in the run-off and that is for the Republican nomination for Insurance Commissioner. We say "important" (they are all important) mainly because for Down Easterners the choice is very clear. Richard Morgan favors making insurance rates on the coast higher than they already are, by confining the risk pool to exclude much of the state. Mike Causey, on the other hand favors a larger risk pool and thus that would tend to make insurance more affordable along the coast and make likely more available.

    Neither candidate is known for advocating what the Observer believes is the solution to the insurance woes in the state: More competition and less regulation. We think the solution would be to require any insurance company that sells a policy anywhere in North Carolina to sell the same policy to anyone who wants to buy it, regardless of where they live in the state. But neither Morgan nor Causey is pushing that idea.

    We believe the "insurance solution" in the state will depend on a strong push from the next Governor. And if Pat McCrory is elected we think it important that Causey be there to work with him.

    Morgan also illustrates what we view as one of the major problems in state government....the wheeler-dealer political hack model, just as we view Arthur Williams in House 6. If you're not familiar with Morgan's background, click here.

    So we think both races are important beyond the issues each office will address. We view both of them as a question of whether the people want to "continue business as usual" in Raleigh or whether they are ready to clean house and send a message to those who return.

    If you are particularly interested in the Insurance Commissioner race we would recommend that you read this post on the Daily Haymaker blog.