Farmers Insurance Appoints Mark Toohey Senior Vice President of Media Relations

Mark Toohey has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Media Relations for Los Angeles-based, Farmers Insurance Company.

Los Angeles, CA (EMWNews) August 25, 2008 — Mark Toohey has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Media Relations for Los Angeles-based, Farmers Insurance Company.    

In his new role, Toohey will be responsible for leading and managing all media relations, external communications and related activities for Farmers, the third largest personal lines property and casualty insurance group in the United States. Before his promotion, Toohey served as Vice President of State Legislative Affairs with responsibility for state government affairs and political grassroots activities for Farmers.

Toohey is a former, award-winning journalist; and also served earlier in his career as Director of Communications and Press Secretary for Texas U. S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison when she was Texas State Treasurer. He also worked in the Texas Governor’s office where he served as executive assistant and press secretary for former Texas Secretary of State George S. Bayoud Jr.

As a journalist, Toohey covered state, national and presidential politics for the Houston Chronicle during a 10-year career in Houston and Austin. He also worked in Texas as a reporter for the Galveston Daily News and the Clear Lake Daily Citizen.    

A native of Buffalo, New York, Toohey is a graduate of the State University College of New York at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California. Toohey and his wife, Polly, have 4 children.

Farmers Group Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services, an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Farmers is the nation’s third largest personal lines property and casualty insurance group. Property and casualty products are underwritten and issued by the Farmers Exchanges and their subsidiaries, which Farmers Group Inc. manages, but does not own. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Farmers provides homeowners, auto, business, life insurance, specialty products and financial services to more than 10 million households. For more information about Farmers, visit our website at www.farmers.com.