George Parish

George Parish

Republican Party

Education

Bachelor's

University of Maryland

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army Reserve

Personal

Profession

Clerk of the Peace

Contact

Personal website

George Parish was a 2016 Republican candidate for insurance commissioner of Delaware. He was defeated in the Republican primary election.

Biography

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Originally from Washington state, Parish is a former Sussex County clerk of the peace, having served for two terms. He is also a retired federal employee and six-year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve.

Parish lives in Long Neck, Delaware, with his wife, Bunny. The couple has one daughter and one grandson.

Education

B.S., University of Maryland

Political career

Sussex County clerk of the peace (2005-2013)

Parish served for two terms as the Sussex County clerk of the peace, winning election in 2004 and 2008.

Issues

Opposition to same-sex civil unions

Parish was a vocal opponent of same-sex civil unions leading up to their legalization in Delaware in 2012. "I support traditional marriage embodied in current Delaware law and oppose same sex marriages," he said when the law was proposed, garnering media attention for his opposition. After the legislation was passed in 2011, he affirmed that he would perform the civil unions as required of his office: "As I have reviewed all my legal options, administrative options and political options, I have determined that I took an oath in support of the Constitution and the rule of law should prevail," further adding,"if I were to resign, liberal Gov. Jack Markell would have the opportunity to appoint a potential liberal to succeed me and that's unacceptable."

Elections

2016

See also: Delaware Insurance Commissioner election, 2016

Parish filed to run as a Republican candidate for Delaware insurance commissioner in 2016. He competed with Jeff Cragg in the September 13 Republican primary election.

Jeff Cragg defeated George Parish in the Delaware Republican primary for insurance commissioner.

Delaware Republican primary for insurance commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Cragg	51.63%	15,075
George Parish	48.37%	14,123
Total Votes		29,198
Source: Delaware Department of Elections

Campaign finance

George Parish Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
04/10/2015-12/31/2015	01/06/2016	$0	$11,905.00	$(642.01)	$11,262.99
01/01/2016-08/14/2016	08/16/2016	$11,262.99	$1,683.97	$(12,502.99)	$443.97
			Running totals
			$13,588.97	$(13,145)

Campaign themes

2016

Parish's campaign website included the following positions:

“

To help lower costs for insurance 1. Now is the time to encourage more competitive markets to help lower the costs for all types of insurance. More competition will help to lower the cost of your automobile, homeowners, life and health insurance coverage. 2. Are you frustrated with the 2016 huge cost increases for health insurance premiums, deductibles and copayments? 3. Allow employers to make tax-free contributions for health premiums directly purchased by employees. 4. Individuals should be entitled to tax breaks when purchasing health insurance just like companies are entitled to tax breaks. 5. Obtain waivers to allow Medicaid patients the option to purchase private health insurance in the marketplace or on the exchanges. 6. Waiver of current regulations to allow the expansion of health savings accounts. 7. Expand eligibility for Catastrophic Health Insurance Plans. 8. Additional ideas and solutions will be discussed during the campaign. To declare that soft corruption is wrong 1. Ban political contributions from insurance corporate entities to candidates for Insurance Commissioner. 2. Ban political contributions from insurance company executives to candidates for Insurance Commissioner. 3. Ban all gifts, except gifts from family, to the Insurance Commissioner. 4. Ban pay-to-play campaign schemes. 5. It is shameful that the State of Delaware received a failing grade in ethics! 6. Additional ideas and solutions will be discussed during the campaign. To reorganize the Department of Insurance 1. Protect consumers! 2. Retain an elected State Insurance Commissioner rather than an appointed State Insurance Commissioner. 3. Enact term limits for the State Insurance Commissioner. 4. Appropriately regulate the insurance companies. 5. Promote a "user-friendly" Department of Insurance. 6. Underscore the importance of arbitration hearings. 7. What is the justification for awarding multi-million dollar contracts to out-of-state contractors? How do these out-of-state contracts help our State economy? 8. Establish a Hall of Fame and a Hall of Shame for consumers and insurance companies. 9. Establish a Delaware Veterans Insurance Assistance Unit. 10. Additional ideas and solutions will be discussed during the campaign.

”

External links

Suggest a link

• Delaware Insurance Commissioner