At his confirmation hearing before the Executive Council this week, D.J. Bettencourt, Gov. Chris Sununu’s pick to be the state’s next insurance commissioner, discussed matters like consumer protection and the importance of maintaining a competitive insurance market.
But Bettencourt also waded into areas not normally covered in discussions of insurance regulation.
He talked about his personal failings, and he shared his commitment to self improvement.
“'I appreciate how disgraceful my decisions were, and I have acknowledged and worked hard to mature from them to be a better person,” Bettencourt told the councilors. “I've worked to try to fix the places in me that were broken."
Such admissions aren’t typical during confirmation hearings for nominees to top state jobs. But Bettencourt, whose nearly two decades in New Hampshire politics have been marked by serial controversies, has not had a typical journey through public life. His resume includes several impressive accomplishments, at relatively young ages: serving as House majority leader in his 20s, and as a top policy advisor to the governor in his 30s.
But it also includes several notable lowpoints: committing academic fraud that prompted his resignation from the Legislature; having to apologize for calling the state’s top Catholic bishop a “pedophile pimp;" and an arrest and criminal charge for domestic abuse that was later dropped.
If he’s confirmed by the Executive Council as commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Bettencourt would find himself in one of the highest paid jobs in state government, at the top of a key regulatory agency — something Bettencourt himself acknowledged may have seemed unlikely earlier in his career.
“Through the process of making amends, I’ve earned the opportunity to earn back people’s trust,” Bettencourt noted at one point in his testimony at Wednesday’s council hearing.
Unlike most people who have been tapped to oversee insurance regulation in New Hampshire, Bettencourt has no professional experience in the industry. He told councilors he understood that could be seen as a shortcoming. But he also stressed that he’s been working as deputy commissioner for more than two years, having been put there by Sununu after serving as a staffer in the governor’s office. And, he said, he’s grown on the job.
“It has been one of the honors of my life to serve alongside the 82 outstanding men and women of the department,” he said.
Bettencourt never faced a confirmation hearing when he was made deputy commissioner, a post that doesn’t require the approval of the council. While Bettencourt was effectively inserted into that job by Sununu, he pushed back on the idea that his possible promotion to a job that comes with a salary of more than $130,000 amounted to political patronage.
‘The governor did not ask me to come to the Insurance Department as a favor or reward,” Bettencourt said.
That Bettencourt is in a strong position to be confirmed to such a job is testament to his political fortitude. More than a decade ago, Bettencourt led one of the largest and most conservative Republican House majorities in recent state history. It was a fast climb for a young lawmaker with no family background in politics. But from the moment he arrived in Concord, as a 20-year old prone to invoking Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill during floor speeches, Bettencourt appeared to have his sights set on bigger things.
His prospects changed dramatically when he was forced to reveal he’d falsified records of an internship while attending UNH School of Law, and resigned from office. At the time, even Bettencourt's allies appeared to be writing his political obituary.
“To see him self-destruct in such a public way is painful for all of us who supported him and had great hopes for his future.” former House Speaker Donna Sytek told WMUR at the time.
Bettencourt’s work for Sununu was his road back. The newly-elected Sununu tapped Bettencourt as a policy adviser when he moved into the governor's office in 2017. He also backed Bettencourt when he sought election to local offices in Salem, where Bettencourt now sits on the town council.
But Bettencourt’s rehabilitation hasn’t been seamless. Last year, he was placed on leave from the Insurance Department after being arrested on a domestic violence charge. His wife told police that Bettencourt pulled her out of bed during an early morning argument after drinking alcohol.
Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges. During Wednesday’s hearing, Bettencourt called the incident “thoroughly embarrassing” and “a private matter,” and noted that marriage was “hard work.”
In the run up to this nomination, Bettencourt has worked to scrub his reputation in novel ways. Earlier this year, NHPR was among the media outlets contacted by a lawyer claiming to represent Bettencourt in seeking the removal of accurate new stories from its website that referenced his arrest. Around the same time, Bettencourt set up ascholarship fund in his own name for high school students considering a career in insurance.
Those who backed Bettencourt at his hearing Wednesday stressed how genuine he is.
“D.J., I believe, has got the good, really basic understanding of what it takes to be a good insurance regulator,” said former New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny, who once led the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and now works as an industry consultant.
“Most insurance commissioners really don't have much experience,” Sevigny added.
That Bettencourt may not be a traditional candidate for such a job — in resume or temperament — was touted by his most staunch backer Wednesday: New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
Formella worked with Bettencourt when Formella was Sununu’s legal counsel. He called Betttencourt a friend who made mistakes but had grown because of them.
“D.J. wears his heart on his sleeve: He’s honest, he cares, he is authentic,” Formella said. “He is not perfect.”
