Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Berfield: I'm not a patsy for insurers

In a year when insurance is a four-letter word, Kim Berfield is trying to fend off talk that she's an industry friend.

By MELANIE AVE
Published September 23, 2006

To her foes, Kim Berfield is the darling of the insurance industry.

But in a year when skyrocketing homeowners insurance has become a prime campaign issue, being a friend of insurance companies is not something a candidate brags about.

And Berfield rejects the label.

"It's not that I always agree with them," Berfield said. "I learn the issues, and I look them square in the eye and say I'm with you or I'm against you and these are the reasons why."

Still, insurance interests have pumped $73,000 into her campaign, 13 percent of her total and nearly 15 times as much as her Democratic opponent, Charlie Justice.

Berfield, a 35-year-old advertising consultant from Clearwater, faces Justice, a 38-year-old academic adviser from St. Petersburg, in the Nov. 7 general election. The two House members are vying to represent Senate District 16, which covers parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

It is considered the most competitive Senate race in the state, some political observers say, and money is pouring in from both sides. So far, Berfield has raised $561,000 and Justice $192,000.

Some Berfield supporters say insurance companies like her because they know her.

Berfield was House Insurance Committee chairwoman in 2003 and 2004 with the power to steer insurance legislation through the chamber.

She was named representative of the year in 2004 by the Florida Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the Florida Insurance Council.

The award from the Insurance Council recognizes lawmakers who are "involved in proconsumer legislation," said executive director Sam Miller.

Berfield said she has fought insurance companies on homeowners insurance issues at least three times.

"I think if you look at my record, it's been a proconsumer record," Berfield said. "There have been a number of occasions that I have butted heads with the insurance industry."

Times researcher Carolyn Edds and staff writer Connie Humburg contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 893-8813 or mave@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 23, 2006, 00:56:25]