Property/casualty insurance industry political action committees did well in the midterm elections, and officials say member input was crucial to their success.

Members of industry associations can gather impressions and facts that might not be available to Washington-based government affairs professionals, a vetting that helps PACs choose strong candidates who support members' political positions, they say.

For example, the Alexandria, Virginia-based Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America's PAC, InsurPac, distributed more than $1.8 million in the 2014 campaign cycle for a 93% congressional victory rate.

“When we're looking at open seats and challenger races, one of the luxuries we have in being a confederation of state associations is that we have boots on the ground in every congressional district,” said Nathan M. Riedel, the IIABA's vice president of political affairs. “When we're vetting challengers or open-seat candidates, we reach out to our locals.”

“Obviously, the relationships that PCI member companies have are a driving force, particularly when it extends over a long period of time, such as when they might have known them when they were in the state house or other elected positions,” said Nat Wienecke, senior vice president of federal government relations in the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America's Washington office.

PCI PAC raised more than $881,000 in the recent federal election cycle and posted an 88% victory rate, he said.

“Political giving is as much art as science,” he said.

Mr. Wienecke said PCI has a PAC board, which has a contributions committee. PCI staff members make recommendations to the contributions committee, which is made up of “PCI member companies only.”

Joel Wood, senior vice president of the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers in Washington, said in an email that the “No. 1 criteria” for the organization's giving is “the recommendations of our member executives.” Council PAC raised more than $1.6 million in the recent election cycle, which Mr. Wood said was “by far our biggest two-year haul. Pretty good, I think, for 200 member firms.”

He said council member executives are gaining understanding that “it's essential to fully participate in the political process, and PAC dollars are pretty much the cleanest dollars in politics — limited, transparent, all coming from personal donations, well-regulated. We try to connect the dots wherever possible between candidates and the civic leadership of our firms.”

Jimi Grande, senior vice president in the National Association of Mutual Insurance Cos.' Washington office, said NAMICPAC raised nearly $1 million this year, with about 10% of that going to state races.

Although the PAC posted a victory rate of more than 90%, “that's certainly not our focus,” Mr. Grande said. “We give to challengers, (candidates for) open seats and try to give in every competitive race where the money can make a difference.” NAMIC backs candidates who support free and open markets, less regulation, less litigation and lower taxes, he said.

The American Insurance Association's PAC contributed $129,000 to federal candidate committees during the past election cycle, and nearly 95% of AIA-supported candidates won their elections, the AIA said.

“AIA supports candidates who understand the fundamental role that property/casualty insurance plays in protecting consumers while providing a foundation for our nation's economy,” said a spokesman for the Washington-based insurer group.

“The nature of a federal PAC is that you support candidates who are supportive of your industry. In many cases, that track record is built over many years in Congress,” Mr. Wienecke said. “Notwithstanding, PCI PAC does get involved in open-seat and challenger races when a candidate has a history of being supportive of the industry.”

A relative newcomer among property/casualty PACs is the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.'s Risk PAC. Six of the seven congressional candidates Risk PAC has supported since its 2011 launch have won, said Scott Clark, chair of the board of trustees of Risk PAC and RIMS' president when it formed the PAC.

The No. 1 priority of Risk PAC is a long-term reauthorization of the federal government's terrorism insurance backstop, Mr. Clark said. The program will sunset Dec. 31 unless Congress reauthorizes it during the current lame-duck session.

Of course, a little bit of luck doesn't hurt, as was evident during the congressional midterm elections earlier this month when a Republican tide helped the fortunes of industry-backed candidates.

“Being a more pro-business PAC, the victory rate will always be little higher when pro-business candidates are elected,” said the IIABA's Mr. Riedel.