John Ingram (politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the businessman, see John R. Ingram (businessman).

John Ingram
Ingram circa 1975
8th Insurance Commissioner of North Carolina
In office
January 10, 1973 – January 10, 1985
GovernorJames Holshouser
Jim Hunt
Preceded byEdwin S. Lanier
Succeeded byJames E. Long
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
from the 27th district
In office
1971–1973
Serving with Colon Blake
Preceded byC. Roby Garner, Sr.
Succeeded byThomas B. Hunter
Personal details
Born
John Randolph Ingram

June 12, 1929
Greensboro, North Carolina
DiedJanuary 6, 2013(2013-01-06) (aged 83)
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseVirginia Brown (m. 1954)[1]
ChildrenFour[2]
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BS, JD)
ProfessionAttorney
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
UnitJudge Advocate Corps

John Randolph Ingram (June 12, 1929 – January 6, 2013) was an American Democratic politician, attorney, and insurance commissioner. He served as North Carolina's Commissioner of Insurance from 1973 until 1985.

Biography

Early life

John Randolph Ingram was born on June 12, 1929, in

Kenan–Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in 1951.[1] He earned his Juris Doctor from University of North Carolina School of Law in 1954.[1]

Career

Ingram with President Jimmy Carter in 1978

He practiced as an attorney, serving on the board of directors of the North Carolina Bar Association.[1] He served as a lawyer in the JAG Corps. After serving, he returned to North Carolina where he started his political career.

He first ran for election to represent Randolph County in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1960, but lost.[2] He ran for the state House again, winning in 1970, and served for one term, during which he introduced the bill reducing the voting age to 18 in North Carolina, and also advocated for auto insurance reform.[1] He won his post as Commissioner of Insurance in 1972.[3]

In that role, he was known as a populist and was an outspoken holder of the office.[4] He won re-election in 1976 and 1980. He considered the abolition of assigned risk for young drivers to be the highlight of his career as Commissioner.[2] Throughout his tenure, he consistently rejected insurance rate increases, although these were overturned by appellate courts in 32 of 33 cases.[2] This brought him into conflict with the General Assembly, which, in 1977, stripped the Commissioner's office of its rate-capping powers.[5]

He was indirectly threatened by the Insurance lobby which made many attempts to infiltrate his campaigns and cabinet. This led to the firing of aides and deputies, including successor

parking garages over fears his office was bugged.[4]

He ran for the Democratic nomination for the

in the primary election, Ingram finished fifth in a crowded field, with 9% of the vote.[6]

pro-choice, and favoured federal funding of abortion for poor victims of rape and incest.[8]

Death

He died on January 6, 2013, from complications of heart disease.

Footnotes

  1. ^
    Secretary of State of North Carolina
    . p. 535.
  2. ^
    The Star-News
    .
  3. Washington Post
    .
  4. ^ a b Rob Christensen (February 3, 2009). "Old-school politician fought for consumers". The News & Observer.
  5. The Star-News
    . January 24, 1978.
  6. ^ a b "North Carolina DataNet #46" (PDF). University of North Carolina. April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
  7. ^ Dennis Patterson (February 7, 1990). "Ingram Touts Insurance Program, Refuses Other Questions". Associated Press.
  8. ^ "Ingram Again Limits Questions at News Conference". Associated Press. February 20, 1990.
Political offices
Preceded by North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance
1973–1985 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 2)
1978
(lost) 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Ingram_(politician)&oldid=1220341404"