By: Misha Lee, IIAW Lobbyist

Get ready Wisconsinites for yet another closely watched, competitive election year. That’s according to the latest results from a new Marquette University Law School poll released earlier this month. The poll of 803 registered voters suggests that the high profile primary races among Republicans for the job of Governor and for the coveted position of United States Senator among Democrats are equally shaping up to be tight contests with just less than a month and a half to go until the August 9 primaries and the general election to follow on November 8. These two races, in particular, are important politically because they could ultimately decide who controls the U.S. Senate and/or whether the state of Wisconsin will continue with split party governance or have one party control of the legislative and executive branches next session.

In the now, five-way Republican gubernatorial primary that determines who will face off against first-term, incumbent Democrat Governor Tony Evers, business owner Tim Michels and former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch are running in a neck-and-neck race with Michels having a slight lead of 27 percent among Republicans and Independents who say they will vote in the GOP primary. Kleefisch received support from 26 percent of primary voters, Kevin Nicholson had 10 percent, Tim Ramthun 3 percent, and relative unknown Adam Fischer with less than .5 percent.

Tim Michels’ candidacy is a late entry into the race since April 22 and yet already he has made a name for himself (aside from his well-known Wisconsin construction business - Michels Corporation), most notably receiving the much-sought-after endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who continues to carry significant sway in Wisconsin and nationwide among Republican voters. Michels returns to the political stage having last ran for public office nearly two decades ago in 2004 when he won a four-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate. He ultimately lost in the general election to former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold. Kleefisch, who is most known for serving alongside former Governor Scott Walker for two full terms as Lt. Governor from 2011 to 2019, has been campaigning for the better part of a year now and leads slightly in favorability ratings among her GOP rivals with 44 percent favorability versus 10 percent who had an unfavorable view of her. Candidate Michels was close behind with 42 percent favorability and 7 percent unfavorable; Nicholson at 27 percent; and Ramthun with 3 percent. The most noteworthy statistic in this race taken from the latest poll results is that a substantial 32 percent (nearly one third) of Republican primary voters remain undecided in this contest, meaning this race is a toss-up as each of the candidates try to convince the large swath of undecided voters to support them as the Republican nominee. For someone like Kleefisch, who is a pretty well-known commodity among GOP voters and who has been campaigning longer and harder than the rest of the field, it will likely be more difficult for her to pick up significant votes from this group of undecideds unless her campaign is able to convince them that she is the only candidate in the GOP field that can defeat Evers in November.

The Marquette poll also revealed a close race in Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary that will determine who will challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson who is running for another 6-year term despite having initially said that he wouldn’t run again. Current Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, who is widely seen as the primary race’s frontrunner, leads the rather large, eight-person field with 25 percent of Democratic primary voters who say they would vote for him. Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, received 21 percent with the four-point differential between him and Barnes falling within the poll’s margin of error making the race a virtual tie. In a distant third and fourth place and not gaining much ground from previously conducted polls is Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski who received just 9 percent and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson who received 7 percent support. The other remaining candidates received 1 percent or less. At some point it is possible one or both of these primary candidates (Godlewski and Nelson) may decide to suspend their campaigns due to lack of momentum and possibly throw their support behind another candidate which could dramatically alter who leads the field. Similarly as in the Republican gubernatorial race, a significant 36 percent of Democratic U.S. Senate primary voters still have not made up their minds on who to support in this wide open contest. More than one-third of primary voters are still up for grabs in this primary battle. It will be a close race to the August 9 finish line for sure, but the campaigns for Mandela Barnes and Alex Lasry have clearly established themselves as the two leading Democratic candidates in this Senate primary.

The poll also previewed early head-to-head general election matchups between incumbent Governor Tony Evers and his potential Republican challengers, as well as U.S. Senator Ron Johnson against his potential Democratic rivals. The poll results revealed some initial positive news for Evers in that he leads all of his potential challengers regardless of who might emerge in the primary.

While it is still very early to make any assumptions about these results and the mood of the electorate is certainly volatile heading into November, Evers’ lead over his potential challengers highlights the advantages of incumbency and having the bully pulpit, especially if the incumbent hasn’t given voters a real strong reason to send him packing. The closest general election matchup in the poll is between Evers and Kleefisch where he has a slight lead of 47 percent to 43 percent and it was the only matchup that fell within the poll’s margin of error. However, unlike Evers, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson trailed all but one potential challenger in a head-to-head matchup, according to the poll revealing his vulnerability as an incumbent seeking re-election. The only candidate where Johnson led was against Alex Lasry by just three percentage points and all matchups fell well within the poll’s margin of error meaning this will be a very tight race in November no matter who emerges from the Democratic side. Some observers highlight that Sen. Johnson is the number one target nationally for Democrats as a seat to pick up in November. Johnson has trailed in the polls before and somehow managed to win. It remains to be seen whether or not he can continue that streak in an off-presidential election year where turnout and how independent voters break will be a determining factor.

The Marquette Law School poll interviewed 803 registered Wisconsin voters by landline or cell phone from June 14-20, 2022. The margin of error is +/-4.3 percentage points for the full sample. The margin of error for 369 Democratic primary voters is 6.2 percentage points and for 372 Republican primary voters is 6.3 percentage points.

See the official poll results at bit.ly/MarquettePollResults.

Happy Wednesday! In this week's Big I Buzz, we have news about WCRB's rate changes and a new way to get involved in the IIAW. 

On July 12, 2022, WCRB (Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau announced an -8.47% rate change (8.47% decrease). This rate change will take effect October 1, 2022. Read the full Circular Letter announcing this change here. 

Get Involved: Volunteer to Serve

We're looking for volunteers to serve on the IIAW's councils and task forces. your participation is invaluable, and your input and feedback will help drive thee work we do in the coming year and beyond. 

Councils & Task Forces for 2022-2023

Personal Lines Task Force - for individuals who are interested or who have a role in Personal Lines insurance

Commercial Lines Task Force - for individuals who are interested in or who have a role in Commercial Lines insurance

Employee Benefits Task Force - for individuals who are interested in or who have a role in Employee Benefits

Industry Relations & Operations Council - for insurance professionals who have an operational or leadership role within an agency or insurance company

Government Affairs Council - for individuals interested in staying informed and providing feedback to the IIAW's Board on Wisconsin & national legislative and political happenings

Emerging Leaders - for insurance professionals looking to cultivate their skills for a successful career by engaging in association activities, professional develop, education and events

Each council and task force will act as a sounding board for the IIAW and will only  have three virtual meetings per year. Participating in the IIAW task forces and councils gives you access to industry experts, exclusive networking events and FREE CE opportunities during most virtual meetings when content allows. 

Make sure you fill out this survey to receive communications about an IIAW Councils & Task Forces kick off event on September 21st and other task force/council communications.

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Additionally, we send out monthly newsletters with content curated just for you and your role. Make sure you're on the list to receive our communications by heading to bit.ly/industrynewsforyou to stay in the loop!

By: Carey Wallace, Business Consultant at AgencyFocus

This has become an all too familiar story.

An agency owner reached out several weeks ago and asked me to meet with him and the owner of an agency in his town that he was looking to purchase.  They had been talking for several years.  They had a handshake agreement that someday he will buy the agency when the time is right.  Those conversations were consistent over time, but had never turned into any action. The selling agency owner was now in his early 80s, but the time didn’t seem right just yet.  Until it was.

Some serious health issues caused the conversation between the two owners to change from someday into a reality.  I was introduced to the selling agency owner and together with the buyer we went through what to expect in the valuation process.  He was charming, funny and full of stories.  It was obvious that the last thing he wanted to talk about was his career in insurance coming to an end.  Instead, he preferred to reminisce about his favorite clients, brag about his amazing staff and tell me the story of how he started in this incredible industry of ours.  Our 30-minute call tripled in length, but I didn’t mind at all.  I loved getting to know him and honestly, I loved listening to his stories.

As our call came to an end, we agreed that the completing the valuation was the next logical step. The seller expressed concern about letting his staff know he was contemplating selling, so he asked that I mail him the proposal and confidentiality agreement and send the data sheets that were required for the valuation in an email that does not mention the purpose.  He planned on confiding in his office manager as she would need to help him completed the information.  The proposal was sent, agreement was signed, and the data sheets were emailed.  We were on our way.

Two weeks later first thing Monday morning I received a call from the buyer. I answered with a chipper Good Morning and was met with an unexpected somber voice. He fumbled his words and struggled to share the news that the seller’s health had taken a turn for the worse,  he was hospitalized a few days ago and passed away the previous evening.  Then there was silence.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I dread this kind of call.

My heart sank and you could tell his heart was breaking as well.  We both were quiet for what seemed like forever.  I broke the silence with a question, “Tell me what I can do to help?”  He then shared his thoughts and plan to help the sellers widow navigate the next days, weeks and months. She is now faced with taking care of the affairs for an agency she has never been a part of and had no idea where to begin.

When something like this happens, the focus goes from planning to “rescue”.  Worse than that, someone who is mourning the loss of the greatest love of their life is forced to make decisions that they have no experience handling. They are forced to think about details and logistics that are in many cases completely foreign.

We started discussing things like:

Who has the logins and ability to access the carrier portals?

How do we ensure that we keep the appointments in place and take care of the customers?  Who has the logins to the accounting system, bank accounts?  Is there any life insurance?  Does someone know how to run payroll?  What do we tell the staff?  Clients? Carriers? How do we reassure the staff?

It is completely overwhelming. The business that was a lifetime of work and the main source of income in their retirement is now in jeopardy.

The reality is for many agency owners the time will never be right and sadly they will put planning for the transition of their agency off until there is no time left.

This can happen to anyone at any age.

You do not have to exit your agency to have a plan.

The time is always right to make a plan.

For more information about planning for your agency please visit www.agency-focus.com or contact Carey Wallace at Carey@agency-focus.com.

Happy Wednesday! We hope that everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July weekend and using information last week's Big I Buzz, you were able to avoid some of the holiday travel! 

This week we are sharing information about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations, what's driving the cyber insurance market and how the federal interest rate hike can affect the insurance industry. 

License Plate Reminder

Now is a great time to remind your clients about Wisconsin State Law license plate regulations to help them avoid unnecessary tickets. Feel free to share the below image and copy on your social media pages. 

Did you know that per Wisconsin State Law if you are issued two license plates you must attach both to your vehicle? Your license plate must be kept in a legible condition, which means no plate covers. This also means that your registration plate lamps, wiring and connections must be maintained in a proper working condition. Finally, if you are given two license plates you must attach the validation sticker to the rear plate as shown below. Connect with your local Trusted Choice independent insurance agent to make sure you've got the coverage you need when it comes to your vehicle! 

Evolving Risk is Driving Cyber Insurance

According to the 2021 NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study, the top five causes of loss for samll and medium-sized enterprises over the last five years based on number of claims was: ransomware, hackers, business email compromise, staff mistakes and phishing.  The increase in ransomware attacks since 2016 has encouraged underwriters to focus on cybersecurity and putting controls in place to help mitigate the impact of cyber events. While there's no way to eliminate cyber risk, insurers are applying minimum requirements on risk controls to obtain cyber coverage like multifactor authentication, endpoint protection and firewalls. Read more about upcoming regulatory enforcement and prevention and resilience here. 

What Fed's Interest Rate Hike Means for Insurance

The Federal Reserve again hiked interest rates Mid-June by 0.75%. Insurance Business reports, that Mark Bernacki, Amwins Chief Underwriting Officer believes,  "Insurance agents should be talking to their clients to make sure they have "sufficient insurance" against a backdrop of soaring loss costs as the Fed seeks to dampen the effects of inflation. They should also be educating them on what the interest rate change means for the insurance market." So, what does this mean for the insurance market? Bernacki stated to Insurance Business Mag, "Obviously, there's the expectation that this could have some short-term pain, both for the economy as well as the insurance industry, but long term this should ultimately be good for both the economy and the insurance industry and also strengthen the labor markets that we're seeing." Read more from the report here. 

For more news, check out the Action News section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Additionally, we send out monthly newsletters with content curated just for you and your role. Make sure you're on the list to receive our communications by heading to bit.ly/industrynewsforyou to stay in the loop!

Independent Market Solutions (IMS) was established in 2007 with the goal of creating greater market access for member agents. Wisconsin made the investment to be a part of IMS and we have grown market availability in Wisconsin to include nine participating carriers that offer personal, commercial and various specialty lines. 

The purpose of IMS is to provide member agents access to quality insurance markets and alternatives that may be otherwise unavailable. IMS creates marketplace leverage through its negotiated contracts, which can be particularly helpful for smaller or rural agents. 

IIAW membership allows your agency to sign up for the program and gain carrier appointments as an IMS sub-producer at no additional cost. Agencies are paid competitive commissions, enjoy 100% ownership of expirations and can participate in earned contingencies. Additionally, several IMS markets feature the opportunity to "graduate" to a direct appointment once certain production goals are met - again, at no additional cost to your agency. 

Ultimately, our mission is to add to the success and prosperity of independent agencies by providing viable market access through IMS. Wisconsin is a proud owner of IMS, along with our association colleagues in other states. To learn more about the carriers IMS could help connect you with, click here.