West Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline was elected as the next president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Jane Cline

Cline, elected along with three others to the group’s executive board, will succeed New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny, at the end of the NAIC’s winter meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Appointed as West Virginia’s top insurance regulator in 2001, Cline previously operated a government consulting firm. Prior to that, she served as commissioner of West Virginia’s division of motor vehicles and as a deputy commissioner in the state’s division of highways.

The NAIC also elected Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss as president-elect, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty as vice-president and Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland as its secretary-treasurer.

The group representing the nation’s 50 insurance commissioners also elected its “zone officers” for the four sections of the United States.

Serving the Midwestern Zone in 2010 are Michael McRaith, chair, Illinois director of insurance; Merle Scheiber, vice chair, South Dakota insurance director; and Mary Jo Hudson, secretary, Ohio insurance director.

Joel Ario

Serving the Northeast Zone are Thomas Sullivan, chair, Connecticut insurance commissioner; Joel Ario, vice chair, Pennsylvania insurance commissioner; and Paulette Thabault, secretary, Vermont insurance commissioner.

Serving the Southeastern Zone are Scott Richardson, chair, South Carolina insurance director; Leslie Newman, vice chair, Tennessee insurance commissioner; and Jim Donelon, secretary, Louisiana insurance commissioner.

Serving the Western Zone are Linda Hall, chair, Alaska insurance director; Mo Chavez, vice chair, New Mexico insurance superintendent; and Christina Urias, secretary, Arizona insurance director.