Florida Insurance Chief Keeps High-Profile Style : Politics: Tom Gallagher has attracted national attention while angering some in the industry. His visibility has fueled speculation that he’ll jump into the race for governor.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  Tom Gallagher, the state’s insurance commissioner and treasurer, thrives on adversity.

He has seen plenty during his six years in office: Hurricane Andrew, insurance company collapses and, most recently, a scandal at Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. that resulted in a record settlement to policyholders.

Through it all Gallagher has maintained a high-profile style that has attracted national attention. He also has angered some insurers and fueled speculation that he’ll jump into the race for governor--one of the nation’s highest-profile political positions.

Gallagher, whose boyish good looks belie his 50 years, maintains he’s simply watching out for consumers.

“When we find that they’re not being treated right, we do something about it,” he said in a recent interview. “It’s just that simple. It’s not any big deal. It’s not like, ‘Hey, we’re big heroes.’ We do what we’re hired to do.”

But in this election year, every move Gallagher makes raises questions about his political ambitions.

Gallagher, however, said he won’t decide on whether to seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination until after the legislative session ends in April.

In the meantime, he is traveling the state pushing for a penny increase to the 6-cent sales tax to raise money for new prison beds and to pay for other crime-fighting measures.

A tax hike is anathema to most Republicans, but Gallagher maintains it’s the only way to fulfill the promises politicians are making.

“He has shown he doesn’t mind going right straight at it,” said state Sen. Curt Kiser, a longtime friend and supporter. “He does what he thinks is right and lets the chips fall where they may.”

When Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. agreed earlier this month to pay as much as $100 million in fines and refunds for deceptive sales practices, it was the latest headline-producing coup for Gallagher.

His agency’s investigation into the sales fraud resulted in the largest settlement of its kind with the nation’s second-largest life insurer.

Even before the MetLife scandal, Gallagher has attracted attention, though some of it wasn’t his own creation and not all has been positive.

When insurance companies wanted to flee the state after Hurricane Andrew left $16 billion in insured damages to south Florida in August, 1992, Gallagher barred them from doing so.

Insurers accused him of exceeding his authority, but the strategy worked. It gave Gallagher and state lawmakers time to devise a plan to cap the number of customers that insurers could cancel and establish a state-created insurance plan for people who couldn’t find conventional coverage.

In 1990, one insurer sued Gallagher and accused him of slandering the company. Gallagher had accused Golden Rule Insurance Co. of “bait-and-switch” tactics in the sale of its Medicare supplement insurance. A trial is scheduled for December in Leon County Circuit Court.

One potential embarrassment for Gallagher was erased recently when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it found no evidence of wrongdoing by Gallagher or his subordinates, who were accused in 1991 of accepting bribes to protect a failing insurer.

The collapse of International Forum of Florida of Longwood in 1990 had left more than 7,000 policyholders with $16 million in unpaid medical bills. Company officials lied to regulators about the firm’s financial condition, but Gallagher said he didn’t learn about the problems until the insurer was insolvent.

As a result, Gallagher reorganized his department. “We started off with some rocky roads. We had to change some of the things we did,” he said.

Some contend Gallagher hasn’t done enough to protect consumers, although they stop short of criticizing him too sharply.

“We deserve a better insurance system than we have, and it’s time for a change,” said Karen Gievers, a Miami trial lawyer who is seeking the Democratic nomination for insurance commissioner. “I’m not running against him. I want to get in there and fix the system.”

Born in Wilmington, Del., and the oldest of eight children, Gallagher moved to Miami in 1961 to attend the University of Miami, where he earned his degree in business administration. He served two years in the Army, including the presidential honor guard, before beginning his career in the mortgage insurance business.

He was elected to the Florida House in 1974 and served until 1986 when he made his first run for governor. He lost in the GOP primary to Bob Martinez, who went on to win the general election.

In 1987, Martinez appointed Gallagher to head the state agency that regulates doctors, engineers and other professionals. In 1988, Gallagher was elected insurance commissioner and treasurer. He was reelected in 1990.

One of the first things he did after election to the $94,040-a-year job was redecorate his Capitol offices in Ralph Lauren wallpaper. (Gallagher’s net worth exceeded $1 million in 1992, mostly from real estate investments.)

If he runs for governor, Gallagher, who is divorced, expects his marital status to be an issue.

“I haven’t thought about it as much, I’m sure, as my opponents have,” he said. “I’m sure they say, ‘Oh man, I just can’t wait to have an opportunity to use Gallagher being single against him.’ If they’re going to make it an issue, they can make it an issue. You are what you are.”

Gallagher would face a GOP field filled with Miami businessman Jeb Bush, son of the former president; former state Senate president Ander Crenshaw; Secretary of State Jim Smith; Tallahassee trial lawyer Ken Connor and a handful of lesser-known candidates.

The winner will face Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles.