NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance George Dale, the longest serving insurance commissioner in the US, lost a Democratic primary after opponents charged he was too close to the industry he regulated.

Gary Anderson won 51 percent of the vote to Dale's 49 percent, according to the Clarion-Ledger. If the results are certified by the Secretary of State's office next week, Anderson will face Republican Mike Chaney in the general election in November.

During the campaign, Anderson criticized Dale for accepting campaign contributions from insurers, saying a "fox has been guarding the henhouse."

Dale said it would be impossible to run without the donations, and criticized attorney Richard Scruggs, who leads a legal team representing thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims, for donating $250,000 to a political action committee working to defeat him.

"It's a standing joke in Mississippi, and has been for some time, that George Dale is the commissioner for insurance as opposed to the commissioner of insurance," Scruggs said in an interview on Election Day. "He's become a mouthpiece for the insurance industry."

Mississippi homeowners have been fighting with insurers over claims since the 2005 storm.

The hurricane reduced many homes to their foundations, leaving room for disputes over whether damage was caused by wind, which is covered by residential insurance, or by water, which isn't.

Dale struck a deal with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company in March in which the Bloomington, Illinois-based insurer agreed to pay at least $50 million and reconsider as many as 35,000 Katrina claims.

In a separate agreement, Dale announced that Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. would review more than 600 claims.

Scruggs, who helped win a $206 billion settlement from the tobacco industry in 1998, paid for newspaper advertisements that depicted Dale as a pig wearing lipstick.

"He gave State Farm a rate increase of close to 30 percent, despite record profits after Hurricane Katrina, and allows them to cherry pick where they cover and what they cover," Scruggs said. "He's not done his job for quite some time now."

Scruggs played a "big role" in the primary, Dale said today.

"In an office like this one, you need personal wealth or money from donors to run your campaign, and I'm not wealthy. I've taken money from people who are knowledgeable about this office and what we do here."

Dale also said it was difficult for a white candidate to defeat a black candidate in a Democratic primary in Mississippi. Anderson did not return a message left at his campaign headquarters.

Dale has held the office since 1975.