Former Liquidator To Lead Buckeye State Department

By Staff Writer

January 04, 2007 at 04:50 AM

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Ohio, Missouri and Idaho are all getting new top insurance regulators.

In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland, a newly elected Democrat, has nominated Mary Jo Hudson to succeed Ann Womer Benjamin as director of the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Hudson now is a Columbus, Ohio, city council member and chairman of the council's Jobs and Economic Development Committee. She also is a lawyer at Bailey Cavalieri L.L.C., Columbus.

From 1989 to 1996, Hudson was a deputy liquidator and special services attorney at the Ohio insurance department.

Hudson has a bachelor's degree in public administration from Miami University and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.

In Missouri, Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, has nominated Doug Ommen to succeed Dale Finke as director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration.

Ommen now is deputy director at the department and general counsel.

In Idaho, Gov. Butch Otter, a Republican, has nominated Rep. Bill Deal, R-Nampa, Idaho, to succeed Shad Priest, the acting director of the Idaho Department of Insurance, as the department's permanent director.

Deal has a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Idaho. He has served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army infantry.

Deal now is an owner of a Nampa insurance agency, a past president of the Idaho chapter of the Independent Insurance Agents Association, Alexandria, Va., and a past president of the University of Idaho Alumni Association.

Deal also is a Republican member of the Idaho House who has been chairman of Idaho's Republican party.

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