Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet voted to hire David Altmaier as Florida's next insurance commissioner Friday. The hire resolved a month-long impasse between Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.

  • Scott, Atwater refused to support each other's favored candidates for post
  • Altmaier a former math teacher, has served 5 years as deputy state insurance commissioner
  • Florida state law allows chief financial officer to veto insurance commissioner candidate selections

The two Republicans refused to support each other's favored candidate for the regulatory post. Scott, who has seen much of his political capital evaporate since his 2014 re-election, endured an embarrassing moment Tuesday when his motion to appoint insurance industry veteran Jeffrey Bragg wasn't seconded during 22 seconds of silence.

The inconclusive Tuesday meeting resulted in Friday's emergency meeting, when Altmaier was interviewed. A former math teacher who for the last five years has served as a deputy Florida insurance commissioner, Altmaier was praised by Atwater as a consumer-friendly regulator capable of holding insurers accountable.

"This man is a real talent," Atwater said after the vote. "I thought you could see by the answers today his incredible grasp of markets, his grasp of the consumer orientation. He's just an extraordinary talent."

Atwater also won approval of a motion, initially opposed by Scott, to allow outgoing Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to remain on the job for 60 days to assist with Altmaier's transition. Scott has been a vocal critic of McCarty, who has made headlines by rejecting rate increase requests and aggressively pursuing insurers that fail to honor their policies.

Much of the tension surrounding the insurance commissioner appointment process can be traced to a state law affording the chief financial officer veto power over the selection of any one candidate. For all the acrimony between Atwater and Scott, however, the CFO believes the law is an appropriate check on concentrated power.

"I certainly had my own opinions as to how the process was going and that the process would go, as I believe it was outlined to go, that we would all be heard," Atwater said. "I thought the governor had strong opinions of candidates and he knew I did, as well, and here we are. The process worked just as it was designed to work."