Democrat Keisha Sean Waites defeated Republican Insurance Commissioner John King on Nov. 3, 2026. Wikipedia's tally has her at 2,172,258 votes (54.22%) to his 1,834,274 (45.78%). When Georgia insurance commissioner Waites takes office in January 2027, her top promise is to stop insurers from using ZIP codes and credit scores to set auto and homeowners premiums. If you own a home in Georgia, plan your next renewal around the policy and price in front of you. The campaign promise won't help with it. Any change to how insurers rate you has to get through the legislature first, and anything renewing before January was filed while King was still in charge.
The results were still unofficial as of Nov. 5, according to InsureReinsure, which noted that states would certify over the following weeks. Insurance Journal reported the margin as 54% to 46%.
Who won, and who she replaces
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed King in 2019 after the federal indictment of then-commissioner Jim Beck, and King won a full four-year term in 2022, according to Insurance Journal and WALB. He's a former U.S. Army general and police officer.
Waites served three terms in the Georgia House from 2012 to 2017, representing District 60, which took in southeast Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Hapeville, Forest Park and parts of Clayton and DeKalb, per WALB and Wikipedia. She later held an at-large seat on the Atlanta City Council (2022 to 2024) and did FEMA disaster-recovery contract work after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She lost to King in 2022.
What she promised
Insurance Journal lists three campaign planks: bar insurers from using ZIP codes and credit scores to set premiums, speed up claims payments, and effectively freeze some auto and homeowners rates. InsureReinsure's summary adds "more aggressive review of auto and home rate increases" and a consumer fraud strike force.
She explained the ZIP code and credit score position in a WSB-TV interview published Nov. 6: "Those things have nothing to do with calculating your risk as it relates to your insurance premiums."
The rate freeze has already been softened. In the same interview, Waites said the commissioner can't freeze rates outright. As WSB-TV summarized her, the office can scrutinize proposed increases and delay or deny them when companies don't provide actuarial data to justify them. She said she'll pursue three priorities in her first 100 days, working with lawmakers.
Consumer advocates are on her side of the argument. Insurance agent Raphael Baker told CBS News Atlanta that ZIP code pricing is "very akin to redlining in the real estate industry," adding, "Just because you're poor doesn't mean you should pay more." CBS reported that the proposal covers homeowners policies as well as auto.
What the commissioner can do without lawmakers
Waites described her authority this way to WSB-TV: "We're charged with regulating and making decisions as it relates to rate hikes," and "We have the authority to fine and penalize insurance companies."
Live Insurance News lists the tools the office has on its own. It can scrutinize rate filings and reject increases that lack actuarial justification, approve or reject new policy forms, investigate claims-handling complaints, and fine insurers. One thing it can't do, the outlet says, is "force a carrier to lower existing rates."
For homeowners policies, timing is set by statute. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-9-21(d), filings for "all insurance other than personal private passenger motor vehicle insurance," which includes homeowners, must reach the commissioner "not less than 45 days prior to its effective date." So a homeowners rate taking effect in December or early January was filed under King.
Auto works differently. House Bill 221, which Kemp signed in 2023, gave the commissioner "the ability to review all car insurance rate filings before they go into effect," with a 60-day review period for filings beyond mandatory minimums, according to a state insurance office release. That law covered car insurance, not homeowners.
What needs the General Assembly
The ZIP code and credit score ban is the hard part. CBS News Atlanta reported on Nov. 9 that a permanent ban would need approval from the Georgia General Assembly. Live Insurance News put it more bluntly: "changing the underlying rating factors requires a statute." A second Live Insurance News piece describes the proposals as campaign commitments, not law.
Live Insurance News also points to Washington state, where a commissioner's emergency-rule ban on credit scoring was overturned because he "had exceeded his authority."
In Georgia, there's a legal argument that rulemaking won't be enough. An opinion column in Peach Pundit, written by an author who took part in the litigation, argues that the Georgia Supreme Court's June 2025 ruling in RNC v. Eternal Vigilance Action limits what agencies can do by rule. The column's view is that the commissioner's general rulemaking power under O.C.G.A. § 33-2-9 can't be used to rewrite the law, so the credit score proposals would need legislation. That's the columnist's argument, not a court ruling on her plan.
According to Live Insurance News, the 2027 legislative session opens in January 2027, the same month Waites takes office. That gives her a quick shot at a bill, but a bill still has to pass both chambers and get the governor's signature before it changes how anyone's premium is calculated.
What Georgia law already says about ZIP codes
Part of what Waites wants is already on the books. O.C.G.A. § 33-24-91 says an insurer that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks may not use an insurance score that relies on "income, gender, race, address, ZIP Code." The same section says insurers can't deny, cancel or nonrenew a policy "solely on the basis of credit information," and can't set renewal rates "solely upon credit information."
That ban is narrower than it sounds. It keeps your address out of the credit-based score itself. It doesn't stop insurers from charging different rates in different places based on where the house sits, which is the location-based pricing Waites is targeting. Banning that would be a much bigger change.
Why coastal and metro Atlanta renewals won't drop before January
Several things stand between the election and a cheaper renewal:
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King remains commissioner until Waites is sworn in.
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Homeowners renewals arriving now were filed under the 45-day rule, on King's watch.
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Any change to rating factors depends on the 2027 session.
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Even with new powers, Live Insurance News says the office can't order existing rates lowered.
The forces behind recent increases don't change with an election either. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August, citing LendingTree, that Georgia home insurance costs rose an average of 7.3% in 2025. Since 2020, Georgia's increase was roughly 40%, which ranked 33rd among states and came in below the 47% national average. The AJC noted that metro Atlanta homeowners tend to pay above-average rates because insurers factor in theft, crime and higher repair costs. Some of the state's highest rates are inland, where hail, tornadoes and thunderstorms drive claims.
The coastal question
On the coast, in Chatham, Glynn and neighboring counties, hurricanes and storm surge are the main exposure, per the AJC. That's where the ZIP code debate gets complicated. Location affects real wind and flood risk, so a house a few blocks from the marsh and one 50 miles inland aren't the same bet for an insurer. Critics of a location ban will likely make that argument, and lawmakers will have to weigh it against the fairness concerns advocates like Baker raise.
If you can't get coverage in the standard market, the backstop is the Georgia Underwriting Association, which, as Kin explains, "administers the Georgia FAIR Plan, which is Georgia's insurer of last resort."
What this means for your mortgage payment
If your lender escrows your homeowners insurance, a premium increase at renewal flows into your monthly payment. When the escrow account comes up short, your servicer will usually spread the shortage over the coming year, on top of the higher ongoing premium. Steps worth taking this month:
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Shop the renewal. Get quotes from other carriers or an independent agent before your renewal date, and compare coverage line by line, not only the price.
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Check your wind and hail deductible. Many Georgia policies carry a separate deductible for these perils. Know what you'd owe after a storm before you trade a higher deductible for a lower premium.
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File your homestead exemption if you haven't. It won't touch your insurance premium, but it can lower the property tax side of your escrow.
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Buying a home? Get insurance quotes before you're deep into the contract. The premium on a coastal or high-risk property can change your debt-to-income math and what you can afford.
What to watch
Over the next few weeks, the state will certify the results. Waites takes office in January 2027, the same month the General Assembly convenes. The first real test is whether a bill to change ZIP code or credit score rating gets filed and moves in that session. Her first 100 days will show which of her three priorities she pursues through the office's existing review powers and which ones she leaves to lawmakers.
Related reading
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What Fannin and Gilmer Flood Victims Should Ask Their Mortgage Servicer
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Why Forsyth and North Fulton Buyers Shouldn't Bank on an Early 2027 Conforming Loan Limit
Sources
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WALB: Upset in Georgia: Waites defeats incumbent King for insurance commissioner
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Live Insurance News: What Can Georgia's New Insurance Commissioner Actually Do About Your Rates?
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Live Insurance News: Georgia Just Elected a New Insurance Commissioner
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Peach Pundit (opinion): The EVA Decision Is Coming for Your Insurance Regulations
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AJC: Home insurance costs grow in Georgia. What's behind the increase? (Aug. 7, 2026)
