Howard Mills III

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Howard Mills
New York's
38th Superintendent of Insurance
In office
2005 – 2007
Political party Republican
Spouse Erin Rice-Mills
Profession Insurance Consultant

Howard D. Mills III (born May 29, 1964 in Goshen, New York) is an insurance consultant and former politician from Hamptonburgh, New York. He served as New York's Superintendent of Insurance from 2005 to 2007, and previously held elective office in both the New York State Assembly and the Town of Wallkill. In 2004, he ran against Senator Charles Schumer of New York for the United States Senate but lost by the biggest margin of victory in state history.

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[edit] Political career and background

Mills graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1986 with a degree in political science and from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1988 with a master's degree in public administration. Prior to beginning his public service career, Mills served as the Director of Development at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, New York, where he also was an adjunct instructor of geography.[1] He also worked as a business consultant to the telecommunications industry and was the business development and public relations officer for the Myles Financial Services Group in Florida, New York while a member of the Wallkill Town Board.[2]

Mills is a Major in the New York Guard, a state militia organization. In the wake of September 11, 2001, Mills was briefly called to active duty and later awarded the New York State Defense of Liberty Medal.[1] He is married to the former Erin Rice, and has two sons.

[edit] Early political career

At 24 years old, Mills won a seat on the Wallkill Town Board. and served two terms over for four years before he was elected Town supervisor, a job he held from 1993 until 1998, when he was elected to the New York State Assembly. As Supervisor, Mills lowered taxes, improved the Town’s bond rating, and oversaw a landfill closure, three major bridge replacements and a town-wide road improvement program.[2] Mills served six years in the State Assembly after being elected in 1998. He served as the Deputy Minority Leader, sat on the Banking, Housing, Insurance and Ways and Means Committees, and was a member of the Armed Forces Legislative Caucus.[3] He was described as pro-choice, pro-Second Amendment, against late term abortion and moderate on social issues.[4]

In 2001, two years after Mills left his post as supervisor, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, sued the town in federal court, accusing the police department of petty corruption, civil liberties violations, and harassment.[5][6][7][8] The town entered into an agreement with the state, dismissed the police chief, agreed to the appointment of an overseer and accepted a lengthy code of conduct laid out by the state.[2][9] The police chief, James Coscette, had been appointed by Mills and unanimously confirmed by the Town Board.[2][10]

Did we collect specific evidence that this was going on when Howard Mills was supervisor? No, but we didn't need to go that far back. However, having done a lot of these investigations, the kinds of problems that we saw are not the kinds of problems that spring up overnight. They are the kinds of problems that fester for years and years, and so I would be very surprised if these problems had not been going on for many years, back through several administrations, including his.

—Mark Peters, Chief Investigator, New York State Attorney General's Office, January 19, 2001.[2]

[edit] 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate

In 2004 he dropped a bid for a fourth Assembly term in order to run against Charles Schumer for the U.S. Senate. He was considered an underdog from the start of his campaign.[11] He was nominated by the State Republican Committee after its fallout with the conservative front-runner Michael Benjamin, who had a significant advantage to Mills in both fund raising and campaign volunteers.[12] Perhaps as a backlash, Mills was denied the important nomination of the Conservative Party of New York State.[13]

He faced considerable difficulty raising money and getting name recognition. He raised only $600,000 for the race, while Schumer's campaign amassed over $24 million.[14] In the November election, Mills lost in the most lopsided contest for statewide office in New York history, with only 24% of the vote to 71% for Schumer. Marilyn O'Grady of the Conservative Party received 4%. He also lost his own Assembly district, winning only Hamilton County, the least populated and most Republican one in the state. Mills conceded the race minutes after polls closed and before any votes were counted.

[edit] New York Superintendent of Insurance

In 2005, Mills was appointed by Governor George Pataki as the New York State Superintendent of Insurance, making him the state's top regulator of that industry.[3] Mills signed landmark settlement agreements with the world’s largest insurer as well as three prominent U.S. insurance brokers, secured auto rate premium reductions, was involved in securing an extension of the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) through the end of 2007, and within the Insurance Department itself, created a Corporate Practices Unit within the agency’s Office of General Counsel.[1]

After a New York Post article revealed that Mills had maintained his Assembly campaign account and continued raising funds while Insurance Superintendent, using them for purposes such as paying for a luxury car, dining out and purchasing gifts, Governor Pataki publicly chastised Mills' conduct.[4][15] He served until 2007, when he reentered the private sector and became Chief Advisor, Insurance Industry Group, Deloitte & Touche USA. [16]

[edit] 2008 congressional run

See also: New York's 19th congressional district election, 2008

A source close to Mills confirmed that he was seriously considering entering the race against freshman incumbent John Hall in New York's 19th congressional district.[4] Although Hall has been targeted National Republican Congressional Committee, they have struggled to find a top tier candidate, and Mills' acquaintance believes that he is up to the task. In late 2007, Mills issued a press release stating he was not interested in running for congress.[17][18]

[edit] Electoral history

U.S. Senate (class 3) from New York, 2004[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Chuck Schumer (I) 4,769,824 70.6% Democrat hold
Republican Howard Mills III 1,625,069 24.6%
Conservative Marilyn F. O'Grady 220,960 3.4%
Green David McReynolds 36,942 0.5%
Libertarian Donald Silberger 19,072 0.3%
Builders Party Abe Hirschfeld 16,196 0.2%
Socialist Workers Martin Koppel 14,811 0.2%

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Official Biography - Howard Mills III - Superintendent". New York State Insurance Department. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e Slackman, Michael. "3 Weeks Out, Refrain in Senate Race Is Still, Howard Who?". New York Times. October 11, 2004.
  3. ^ a b "Governor Pataki announces new Insurance Superintendent". Greater New York Council of Insurance Brokers. December 24, 2004.
  4. ^ a b c Celock, John. "Mills Mulling Run Against Hall". City Hall News. November 27, 2007.
  5. ^ "PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. THE TOWN OF WALLKILL". United States District Court, Southern District of New York. January 17, 2007. Retrieved from Times Herald-Record article entitled "Text of the attorney general's complaint" on February 29, 2008.
  6. ^ Hegedus, Nathan. "Wallkill cops face Spitzer's scrutiny". Times Herald-Record. January 17, 2001.
  7. ^ Herbert, Bob. "In America; Police Predators". New York Times. January 25, 2001.
  8. ^ "False arrest claim set for trial". Times Herald-Record. March 1, 2003.
  9. ^ Barry, Dan. "Seeing Lawless Police Behavior, State Files Civil Rights Complaint Against Small Town". New York Times. January 19, 2001.
  10. ^ "Key dates in Wallkill police controversy". Times Herald-Record. January 19, 2007.
  11. ^ Senate hopeful claims GOP bosses snubbed him. Albany Times-Union, February 25, 2004.
  12. ^ Humbert, Mark. Major Parties to Anoint their Senate Combatants. Associated Press. May 15, 2004.
  13. ^ Remember Senate 2004, November 20, 2005.
  14. ^ "2004 New York Senate Race". The Center for Responsive Politics. December 31, 2004.
  15. ^ Benjamin, Elizabeth. "Odds and Ends". Albany Times-Union. December 27, 2006.
  16. ^ Levensohn, Michael. "Mills to take job with financial firm when he leaves as state Insurance head". Times Herald-Record. December 27, 2006.
  17. ^ James, Alexa. "Mills mulling run against John Hall". Times Herald-Record. November 29, 2007.
  18. ^ Benjamin, Elizabeth. "Mills: Don't Believe The Hype". New York Daily News. November 29, 2007.
  19. ^ "NYS Board of Elections United States Senator Election Returns". New York State Board of Elections. Retrieved on February 29, 2008.


Preceded by
John Bonacic		 New York State Assembly, 95th District
1999–2002		 Succeeded by
Ryan Karben
Preceded by
Joel Miller		 New York State Assembly, 97th District
2003–2004		 Succeeded by
Ann Rabbitt
Preceded by
Al D'Amato		 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate (class 3) from New York
2004		 Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by
Gregory V. Serio		 New York State Superintendent of Insurance
2005–2007		 Succeeded by
Eric R. Dinallo
Persondata
NAME Mills, Howard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Middletown, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH