Jim Donelon

Donelon began his career in public office serving on the Jefferson Parish Council from 1978 to 1980.^[4] From 1982 to 2001, he served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. As a state lawmaker, he chaired the House Committee on Insurance and co-chaired the Republican Legislative Delegation.^[4]

He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana in 1979 and for United States Senate in 1998, but he lost both races.^[4][5]

In 2001, he was appointed deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance by then-Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley. In February 2006, Wooley resigned to take a legal position with the firm Adams and Reese in Baton Rouge, and Donelon succeeded him in the position of Insurance Commissioner.^[6] Donelon subsequently won the office in a special election held in the fall of 2006 by defeating Republican State Senator James David Cain of Beauregard Parish.^[7]

While Insurance Commissioner, Donelon allowed a temporary rehabilitation, known as a "conservation proceeding", which gave Lighthouse Insurance time to raise $65 million in new capital investments despite the company reporting three straight years of net losses from 2020 storms in Louisiana. It was the first time in years that a Louisiana carrier had been covered by a conservation proceeding. In March 2022, Donelon signed an order placing Lighthouse Insurance in liquidation proceedings after its losses from Hurricane Ida.^[8]

Donelon decided not to seek another term in the 2023 Louisiana elections.^[9] He was succeeded by Tim Temple on January 8, 2024.^[10]

In 2022, he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame^[11]

Donelon and his wife, Merilynn, have four daughters.