Ommen appointed Iowa Insurance Commissioner

Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday tapped Doug Ommen to lead the Iowa Insurance Division.

Ommen - who has served as the interim Insurance Commissioner - will replace Nick Gerhart, who stepped down at the end of 2016. Gerhart, who resigned at the end of his four-year appointment, is now the chief administrative officer at FBL Financial Group.

'I'm pleased that Doug Ommen has accepted this responsibility as Iowa Insurance Commissioner,” Branstad said in a statement. 'Doug is a seasoned attorney and insurance regulator who has over 30 years of experience in public service and I'm confident in his ability to lead the Iowa Insurance Division.”

Before serving as interim Insurance Commissioner, Ommen also had been Deputy Insurance Commissioner in Iowa since 2013. Before his service in Iowa, Ommen served as Missouri's Insurance Commissioner under Gov. Matt Blunt and provided leadership in consumer protection in the administrations of Attorneys General Bill Webster, Jay Nixon and Chris Koster in Missouri since 1985.

'I've spent my career in public service ensuring that consumers are protected and I'm very happy to continue that work for Iowans,” Ommen said in a statement.

l Comments: (319) 398-8331; chelsea.keenan@thegazette.com