Meet Jon

I am honored to serve as North Dakota’s Insurance Commissioner. I was elected to a four-year term of service on November 8, 2016, and sworn in to office on January 3, 2017. In this position, I have focused on increasing public awareness of and access to the department’s consumer services. 

A few highlights from my service thus far include: 

• 2018 Executive Champion by Autism Speaks in appreciation of exceptional advocacy on behalf of individuals with autism in North Dakota.

• Proposed legislation, which the 2019 state legislature approved, to establish an invisible reinsurance pool for the individual health insurance market, which reduced premiums by 20% for farmers, ranchers, small business owners and anyone who purchases their own insurance.

• Chair of the Innovation and Technology Task Force for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). 

• Chair of Artificial Intelligence Working Group for the NAIC

• Appointed to serve as the state insurance regulator on the Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee created by Congress to review options to improve the disclosure of charges and fees for air medical services, better inform consumers of insurance options for such services and protect consumers from balance billing.

• Launched the Department’s online LiveChat application, which was the first of its kind across all North Dakota state agencies.

Prior to being elected, I served as vice president of government affairs for the Greater North Dakota Chamber from 2011-2015, representing statewide business interests to the legislature and the executive branch officials, and to companies looking to operate in North Dakota.

As part of my role with the GNDC, it was a pleasure to be was selected in 2014 as the first North Dakotan for the prestigious American Swiss Foundation’s Young Leaders Conference.

I earned a law degree and MBA from the University of North Dakota and was able to study abroad in Austria under former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. I was a member of the North Dakota Law Review, and a legislative intern for the North Dakota 2009 Legislative session, working on the House Finance and Tax Committee. In my final year of study, I worked full time as a legislative aide to the State Tax Department.

From 2005-2007, I worked for Alerus Financial in Grand Forks as branch manager and a personal banker.

I also had the great experience of playing professional basketball in Ehingen, Germany, after graduating with honors from the University of Northern Iowa.

As a lifelong resident of North Dakota, community service is important to me. I serve as a member of the North Dakota Special Olympics board of directors, for which I volunteered while growing up in Grand Forks, and the Missouri Valley YMCA board of directors in Bismarck.

Most importantly, my wife Amanda and I are the proud parents of three great kids and enjoy raising them in Bismarck.