‘Data nerd’ running for insurance commissioner wants to protect Kansans, make costs more affordable

TOPEKA — The Kansas insurance commissioner is a regulator who protects consumers but also must be an advocate and use data to shape policy, a candidate for the office said.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that she’s a “data nerd” who, if elected, looks forward to delving into the insurance rate increases in Kansas and understanding the factors that affect costs and coverage. 

“I really look forward to looking at our Kansas-specific data and then surrounding states — what are they doing better in other states?” she said. “What are things that we could do better to make sure that Kansans are protected and we have access that is affordable?”

Sykes, who faces House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, in November, said she never thought she would enter politics, instead working in higher education with her degree in business, finance and economics. After staying home with her children, she reentered the workforce running a business as a personal chef and caterer. 

The slide into politics began with involvement in the parent-teacher association, Sykes said. In that role she recognized a need in the school district — her children’s library hadn’t purchased new books in five years — and became more interested in what was happening at the state level. 

At a rally, she met then-Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, who said they needed more people in government who would “ask questions, be curious, look at legislation, how it affects, and not just do what they’re told, but really think for themselves,” Sykes said. 

The result was a run for the Senate as a Republican in 2016, she said. Two years into her four-year term, she changed parties. 

“I changed and became a Democrat, and I said I may never get elected again, but they have left, abandoned my beliefs and where I stood,” Sykes said. She was reelected twice as a Democrat and became Senate minority leader, the first woman to serve in that position.

Her decision to run for insurance commission came about because she was approached to run and because she likes providing direct constituent services, Sykes said. 

She recalled a constituent who needed mental health services for her son and ran into “barrier after barrier,” she said. The underlying message was that her child hadn’t tried hard enough to commit suicide so the mother couldn’t get help, Sykes said. 

While Sykes was able to help the woman through the system, it highlighted the difference the insurance commissioner could make. 

“It’s just an extension of what I love doing as a senator, but even on a bigger scale,” she said.

The insurance commissioner regulates all insurance in the state, from property and casualty to pet insurance, Sykes said. 

“Insurance companies and their attorneys write policies and then you have policyholders, and the insurance commissioner is the bridge,” she said. “It’s probably the most important role on the ballot that no one understands that it affects every aspect of your life.”

Sykes said as insurance commissioner she would convene groups of people on all sides to consider what is causing rising insurance rates. Home insurance rates in the state increased 42.6% from 2020 to 2025, according to a Wichita Eagle report. 

Her lack of experience in the insurance industry is a bonus because she has no ties and will look at issues as an “independent voice,” she said. Hawkins has worked in the industry since 1995, according to his website. 

“A lot of our previous insurance commissioners have not had that insurance experience, and actually, Kansas law says that the only connection that (the insurance commissioner) should have to the insurance industry is to be a policyholder,” Sykes said. 

Kansas needs businesses to be successful, and it is important to bring new insurance carriers to the state, she said. But the focus in the insurance department must be on making sure consumers are protected.

To that end, she also wants to focus on educating consumers about insurance because the policies are often difficult to read and understand, especially as you are rarely comparing policies that are written in the same way, Sykes said.

In an auto policy, for instance, companies vary on rental car coverage after an accident, she said. At a recent meeting, someone said they just found out they needed additional coverage for driving for Meals on Wheels, Sykes said.

It is a complicated industry and the insurance commissioner should examine every step of the process, looking for “choke points, bureaucracy” to support policyholders and the companies, Sykes said.

She said Kansas needs more companies in the insurance market, which could help some of the state’s financial challenges with the employee health insurance plan. The state insurance funds are projected to have $7 million at the end of 2027 and nearly $40 million at the end of 2028. For 2027, that is about $55 million below statute requirements, which require a percentage of estimated claims to be held in reserves. It is $27 million below for 2028.

“Prices are going up, costs are going up, and you know it’s either individuals are going to pay that, or employees, and we have to have better discussions, which I think goes back to how do we bring more carriers into Kansas so that we have more options,” she said.