Keisha Sean Waites

Democrat

Commissioner of Insurance · Cobb County, Georgia · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: John King (Republican)

Keisha Sean Waites is a former three-term Georgia state representative and one-term Atlanta City Council at-large member who won the 2026 Democratic nomination for Insurance Commissioner. She has run for numerous other offices without winning since 2017 and campaigns on challenging insurance rate hikes and banning ZIP code- and credit score-based premiums.

What this office decides

The Insurance Commissioner reviews and approves insurance rates and policy forms, licenses insurers and agents, and investigates fraud and consumer complaints. The office also serves as State Fire Marshal, setting safety and building fire codes. Its decisions shape what Georgians pay for auto, home, and health insurance.

How this race lines up with you

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Dossier

Researched 2026-09-22 · Claude Code research agent with web search

Donald Trump: nothing found. No endorsement or criticism found.

Make Gwinnett Great Again (for) source
How Clay Votes (local Sway voter guide) (for) source

Who they are

Keisha Sean Waites represented Georgia House District 60 (2012-2017) and served one term on the Atlanta City Council at-large, Post 3 (2022-2024), resigning both seats early to run for other offices (Ballotpedia). Between elected terms she worked in FEMA's legislative and external affairs division and as a disaster reservist/commercial loan specialist at the U.S. Small Business Administration (Branch). She won the June 16, 2026 Democratic runoff for Insurance Commissioner with 58.9% of the vote over Deandre Mathis (Ballotpedia).

Positions

Business & regulation: Campaigns on challenging "unjustified rate hikes" by home and auto insurers and advocates outlawing ZIP code- and credit score-based insurance premiums (AJC; Branch).
Crime & policing / consumer protection: Proposes a dedicated task force to investigate scams targeting seniors and other vulnerable residents (AJC).
Public safety infrastructure: Says she would invest in modern equipment and faster fire/emergency response times for rural and under-served Georgia communities (Branch).

Record

As a state representative Waites sponsored mostly local and commemorative legislation (e.g., local-government compensation bills for Clayton County offices, HR514 creating a House Study Committee on Water Desalination) and served on the Interstate Cooperation, Juvenile Justice, Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Transportation committees (Ballotpedia). She has run unsuccessfully for the Fulton County Commission chair (2017, 2018), U.S. House Districts 5 and 13 (2020), Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court (2024), and Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 (2025, losing a runoff to Peter Hubbard) (Ballotpedia).

Money

Ballotpedia/OpenSecrets data show a cumulative historical total of $97,548 raised across Waites' 2008-2020 campaigns (Georgia House and a U.S. House bid); no expenditure data was available for those cycles (Ballotpedia). No 2026 insurance-commissioner-specific fundraising total was found; a search of Georgia's ethics.ga.gov filer database returned multiple historical committee registrations under "Waites, Keisha" and "Waites, Keisha Sean" but this research could not confirm which, if any, covers the 2026 race within the time available.

What we couldn't find

A verified 2026 campaign finance total for the insurance commissioner race.
Major organizational endorsements; Ballotpedia lists only three small local "Sway" voter-guide endorsements (How Clay Votes, Southside Civics Coalition, Todd's Picks), and Branch.vote lists an endorsement from a group called "Make Gwinnett Great Again," which could not be independently verified in this research.
Any Trump-related statement (none expected/found for this race).

Sources (4)