Mr. Schmidt was appointed insurance commissioner in Feb. 2003 and has served longer than any prior commissioner, the department noted.

Speaking to NU Online News Service, Mr. Schmidt said one reason for his departure is that the governor will be termed out of office at the end of this year. "Generally, new governors want to pick their own insurance commissioner because the position is so important to so many people and affects so many citizens," he said.

He added, "And I have been insurance commissioner longer than anyone else ever has been. I've accomplished a lot of good things, and there are always a few things you wish you could have accomplished."

As an example, Mr. Schmidt said he was working on establishing a graduate program for insurance and risk management at the University of Hawaii. "We were able to get a position for a professor of insurance in the business school there," he noted, "and the position did get a number of donations to endow it as a chair, and the university has hired someone on to work into that chairmanship.

"So we got partway there," Mr. Schmidt said, adding that he would try to continue to work toward his goal from the private sector, if possible.

A spokesperson at the department said Deputy Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito will take over as interim commissioner on July 1 until a new commissioner is appointed after the election this fall.