A.M. Best Company's Election News Site to Report Results in Real Time.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- The votes cast on Nov. 7 will shape the course of insurance regulation for years to come. As the votes are counted across the country that night, visit http://ElectionNews.ambest.com to see how the races for insurance commissioners, governors and congressional candidates in districts of particular interest to the insurance industry are decided.

Among the key races covered by A.M. Best's staff of professional journalists:

* Insurance commissioner elections in California, Georgia, Kansas and Oklahoma.

* Gubernatorial elections in 30 states where they appoint the top insurance regulator. Additionally, the victor in Florida's race for chief financial officer controls the position of insurance commissioner.

* Ballot issues in California, Florida, Montana, Oregon and South Dakota have the potential to change how insurers operate in those states.

* Democrats need to take a net of 15 seats to retake control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, and most public opinion polls suggest they are in a strong position to do so. In particular, the staff has focused on eight tight races where the incumbents have received $250,000 to more than $500,000 each in campaign contributions from insurers and other financial services groups.

* Ten Senate races in particular are of interest to insurers, including those who serve on key committees as well as candidates friendly to the industry, such as Safeco's former chief executive officer, Mike McGavick.

Make http://ElectionNews.ambest.com your source for news reports and audio interviews with the candidates and industry representatives as well as perspective on the significance of individual races. Bookmark it for a quick return after the ballots are counted for results.

A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com.