Riley Announces Candidacy for Kansas Insurance Commissioner

Bryan Riley, the owner of a Wichita insurance agency, announced he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Kansas Insurance Commissioner in 2002.

He was the GOP nominee for the office in 1998 but lost to Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, who won a second four-year term with 59 percent of the vote.

Sebelius is currently raising money for a campaign for governor of the state.

Riley said he has pledged to reverse the trend toward more government control, less competition and higher prices. He promised to lead efforts in the state and at the national level to put insurance decisions in the hands of families instead of politicians. He said employers were being forced to slash benefits and Kansans were seeing more of their paychecks eaten up by health-insurance costs.

Riley said he wouldn’t accept contributions from the insurance industry or political action committees as long as other candidates made the same pledge.