Kitzman Named as Next Texas Commissioner of Insurance

Eleanor Kitzman is slated to become the next Texas Commissioner of Insurance on Aug. 15, 2011. Kitzman, the outgoing executive director of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board and past director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, was appointed to the post in late July by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

She will replace current Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin, who announced earlier this year that he was not interested in serving another term.

Kitzman has served as a clerk for the Texas Supreme Court and is a past associate at Akin, Gump, Strauss and Feld. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas and South Carolina Bar Association.

“Eleanor Kitzman appears to be uniquely qualified to serve as Texas insurance commissioner,” said Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. “Her experience in running the insurance commission in South Carolina as well as representing insurers and managing insurance companies should give her a jump start in assessing the Texas marketplace.”

The American Insurance Association also congratulated Kitzman on her nomination.

“Ms. Kitzman’s significant insurance background makes her well-qualified to be the next commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance,” said Fred C. Bosse, AIA Southwest region vice president. “Texas is a large state with diverse insurance needs. Her tenure as South Carolina’s insurance commissioner coupled with her efforts to reform that state’s auto and coastal insurance systems uniquely position her to run TDI.”

Prior to her appointment as head of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, a post she held for six months, Kitzman was employed by Goldman Sachs. She served as the insurance director in South Carolina from 2005 to 2007. Kitzman, a Texas native, graduated from the University of Houston and earned her law degree from the South Texas College of Law.

A lawyer and businesswoman, Kitzman led the South Carolina Insurance Department from 2005 to 2007, when she resigned over a disagreement with former Gov. Mark Sanford on coastal insurance, the Associated Press reported.

She founded Driver’s Choice Insurance in 1999 and grew the company to 50 employees before selling it in 2004.

Kitzman lost her bid for South Carolina lieutenant governor in last year’s four-way GOP primary, according to the AP. Some consumer advocates in Texas have criticized her acceptance of insurance company donations in that race.