ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Kansas Insurance Commissioner’s office is one of many seeking a new face, and Dinah Sykes is one of the candidates seeking the office.

Sykes, who currently serves as the Minority Leader of the Kansas Senate, said her interest in politics was sparked a decade ago.

“I first ran for office in 2016 when I was a PTA mom and seeing how budget cuts were affecting my children's school,” Sykes said. “I actually joined some friends and other moms and walked from Marion to Topeka to raise awareness about what was going on. It was there I met then-Sen. Laura Kelly, and she was talking about needing more people in the Kansas Legislature who would listen to constituents, ask hard questions, and really kind of get us back on track after the Brownback experiment. That got me thinking, and I knew some legislators in my area because of PTA, so I reached out to them and essentially said I was interested in getting more involved in politics, but I wasn't sure how to go about the process. After I sent that email, door after door kind of opened up for me, and I ended up running for the Senate.”

As Sykes tells it, however, politics was not exactly part of her plan. 

“I never saw myself in politics. I worked in higher education when I first graduated from school as a fundraiser, and then stayed at home, and then started my own business as a personal chef and caterer,” Sykes said. “But I always cared about my community, so after that, I started knocking on more than 10,000 doors for a senate race and started really engaging people and was elected. I was a Republican at that time and then changed my affiliation in 2018 after seeing the Republican Party was really shifting further to the right than I was comfortable with. I wasn't sure if I would run again in 2020, but I ended up running as a Democrat, won by a larger margin in a red district than I expected, Then, funnily enough, that night, Sen. Anthony Hensley, who had been the Senate minority leader for more than 28 years was not re-elected, and so I was getting calls that night from people telling me ‘You need to run to be the next leader of the Democratic in the Senate.’ I remember thinking ‘I have only been a Democrat for a hot minute,’ but I ended up running and winning that election, and so I've served in the Senate for more a decade, and as the Senate Democratic leader for six years.”

In that time, Sykes said she has learned a lot.

“I've learned a lot in terms of expanding, and now I’m running now for insurance commissioner as a continuation of my service to Kansas,” Sykes said. “I have helped my constituents with issues with insurance, whether they've had denials because of prior authorization, or maybe they’re having trouble getting the services they need all of that. I’m really excited to be running and having a broader impact on the state and focusing on consumer protections and consumer education. Insurance is complicated, and we want our insurance companies to be solvent and make sure they're able to fulfill their promises to policyholders.”

That desire to have a broader impact on Kansans, Sykes said, was what inspired her to run.

“It’s been more than a year since I started thinking about it, and I'm also someone who doesn't think legislators should stay in their position for a lifetime,” Sykes said. “I love serving my constituents. I think I've delivered some really good results for my community, but I also want to make sure I am continuing to challenge myself with new perspectives and do a new job, so I was looking at those factors. I was looking at what would be next for me, and then I talked to the current insurance commissioner, Vicki Schmidt – she was one of my mentors when I went into the Senate, so I have  great respect for her. She was talking about how much she loved being the insurance commissioner, and then I ended up talking with Kathleen Sebelius about her path, and she said almost the same thing. I was also really thinking about how I could serve Kansans as health care costs are more expensive, whether it’s homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, all of that. I think this position is a great avenue to do the parts of my job I love, which is advocating for my constituents, just in a more tailored way.”

One of her main goals, Sykes said, is to help make the insurance process easier for consumers.

“We had data on prescription drug prices, and how more than 100 local independent mom and pop pharmacies across the state are closing because they were not being reimbursed the costs of prescriptions,” Sykes said. “And then from what we've seen in other states, the data is showing those insurance-owned PBMs are funneling it to their own pharmacies and paying top dollar. Because we were able to find that data and hear the stories of actual Kansans, it was probably one of my favorite times in my 10 years of service in terms of really having Republicans and Democrats coming together, looking at how do we fight for access, how do we keep our local pharmacies open, especially in those smaller communities where that local pharmacy is the health care provider they have the best access to. There’s also a lot of bureaucracy that is really hurting Kansas. I've also had multiple talks with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners about wanting to partner with them on how to make sure Kansans know the right questions when they're looking at those policies.”

Sykes also offered encouragement for constituents to contact her with questions and concerns either through her social media pages or her Web site, dinahsykes.com, and said she is looking forward to getting to work.

“The insurance commissioner's race is one of those down ballot races that is oftentimes overlooked,” Sykes said. “We're only one of 11 states that elects the insurance commissioner. Most are appointed, so I think Kansans have a wonderful opportunity to make sure they have someone who is advocating for them, looking out for the best interests of Kansans and wants to make sure access, competition, and affordability are at the forefront. This is a race that affects every Kansan, whether it's homeowners’, auto, property casualty, health insurance, pet insurance. The insurance commissioner is the one who is making sure all of these companies are fulfilling their promises to Kansans.”