Don Benton
Don Benton is a former Republican member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 17 from 1997 to 2017. He served as Deputy Majority Leader from 2013 to 2017.
Benton did not seek re-election to the Washington State Senate in 2016.
Benton served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1995 to 1997. He ran for the United States House of Representatives District 3 in 1998, but was not elected.
Biography
Benton earned his A.A. from College of the Canyons. He then graduated cum laude from Concordia University with a B.S. degree in management and communication. Benton has worked as Founder and CEO of The Benton Group since 1988. He was the Co-Founder/President of Santa Clarita Temporaries Incorporated from 1979 to 1983 and was district manager and agent for Farmers Insurance Group from 1981 to 1988. Benton's political experience began with his work as a Republican Precinct Committeeman. In 2000 he served as chair of the Washington State Republican Party.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Benton served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions & Insurance, Chair |
| • Government Operations and Security, Vice-Chair |
| • Rules |
| • Transportation, Vice-Chair |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Benton served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions & Insurance |
| • Governmental Operations, Vice chair |
| • Rules |
| • Transportation |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Benton served on the following committees:
| Washington committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance |
| • Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections |
Campaign themes
2012
Benton's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
Jobs and the economy
- Excerpt: "I support providing more training and education for displaced workers."
Improving our schools
- Excerpt: "I support reforms that put more emphasis on classroom instruction and less on administrative bureaucracy."
Holding the line on taxes and spending
- Excerpt: "I will continue to fight against harmful tax increases."
A clean environment
- Excerpt: "I support responsible environmental policies that improve our quality of life and that of future generations. The health and safety of our families and communities will always be a major priority for me."
Reducing crime in our community
- Excerpt: "A couple of years ago, I passed an important bill called the Chelsea Harrison Act, to put away violent offenders who threaten our communities. Violent offenders should receive tough penalties, and our communities should have the resources necessary to protect our families."
Presidential preference
2012
Don Benton endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.[3]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Washington State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 20, 2016. Incumbent Don Benton (R) did not seek re-election.
Lynda Wilson defeated Tim Probst in the Washington State Senate District 17 general election.[4]
| Washington State Senate, District 17 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Lynda Wilson |
55.11% | 32,766 | |
| Independent Democrat | Tim Probst | 44.89% | 26,686 | |
| Total Votes | 59,452 | |||
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||||
Lynda Wilson and Tim Probst were unopposed in the Washington State Senate District 17 top two primary.[5][6]
| Washington State Senate, District 17 Top Two Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Lynda Wilson | |
| Independent Democrat | Tim Probst | |
| Source: Washington Secretary of State | ||
2012
- See also: Washington State Senate elections, 2012
Benton won re-election in the 2012 election for Washington State Senate District 17. Benton was unopposed in the August 7 blanket primary and defeated Tim Probst (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Benton Incumbent |
50.1% | 27,538 | |
| Democratic | Tim Probst | 49.9% | 27,460 | |
| Total Votes | 54,998 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Benton was re-elected for the Seventeenth District of the Washington State Senate receiving 29,426 votes.
Benton raised $303,688 for his campaign.[9]
| Washington State Senate, District 17 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Don Benton (R)
|
29,426 | |||
| David Carrier (D) | 28,111 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Washington scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 9 through April 23. There were also special sessions. The first special session was April 24 through May 23. The second special session was May 23 through June 21. The third special session was June 21 through July 20.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the state’s business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to home building industry issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on firearm policies.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against WSLC's position.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 64th Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 11 through March 10. The legislature held a special session from March 11 to March 29 to pass a supplemental budget.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 64th Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 12 through April 24. The legislature was in special session from April 29 to May 28, May 29 to June 27 and June 28 to July 10.[10]
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 13 to March 14.[11]
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 63rd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 14 to April 29.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 9 to March 8.[12]
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the 62nd Washington State Legislature, first session, was in session from January 10 through April 24.
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Missed Votes Report
- See also: Washington House of Representatives and Washington State Senate
In March 2014, Washington Votes, a legislative information website, released its annual Missed Votes Report, which provides detailed missed roll call votes on bills for every state legislator during the 2014 legislative session.[13] The 2014 regular session included a total of 515 votes in the State House and 396 in the State Senate, as well as 1,372 bills introduced total in the legislature and 237 bills passed. Out of all roll call votes, 90 individual legislators did not miss any votes. Three individual legislators missed more than 50 votes.[13] Benton missed 8 votes in a total of 1017 roll calls.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Benton and his wife Mary have four children.
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Don + Benton + Washington + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Washington State Legislature
- Washington State Senate
- Washington State Senate Committees
- Washington Joint Committees
- Washington State Senate District 17
External links
- Don Benton on the Washington State Senate website
- Benton's Senate Republican Caucus website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile of Benton on Project Vote Smart
- Biographical profile of Benton on Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1994
- Campaign website
- Washington Votes profile of Benton
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 14, 2014
- ↑ senatordonbenton, "Official Campaign Website," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Mitt Romney for President, "Mitt Romney Announces Support of Washington State Elected Officials and Leaders," February 13, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "General Election Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 23, 2016
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "August 2, 2016 Primary Results," accessed August 25, 2016
- ↑ C-SPAN, "AP Election Results - Washington State Senate," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed July 16, 2012
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Multi State, "2015 State Legislative Session Dates," accessed July 13, 2015
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ StateScape, "Session schedules," accessed July 23, 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Washington Policy Center, "2014 Missed Votes Report for Legislators Released," March 18, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Washington State Senate District 17 1997-2017 |
Succeeded by Lynda Wilson (R) |
