==Experience==
Don Benton first became interested in politics when his father, whom Benton considers to have been his [[mentor]], served four terms on the local school board. His father's passion for [[politics]] carried over to Don, beginning with his service as student body president in college, to today’s today's service in the state Senate. Don Benton was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994; Benton has been in the Senate starting in 1996 and was reelected in 2000, 2004 and 2008. His current term expires January 2013.<ref>[http://www.bentonforsenate.com/?page_id=92 Senator Don Benton to run for US Senate], February 6, 2010.</ref>
==Political Philosophy==
Senator Don Benton has dedicated his legislative career to protecting property rights, reducing property taxes and putting criminals behind bars.<ref name=seattletimes/> He called for a special session to save a voter-approved cap on property tax collections. Despite the Supreme Court’s Court's decision to invalidate I-747 on a technicality, the Legislature put the cap into law during a one-day special session in November 2007.
Benton has led the fight to save the Taxpayer Protection Act in the Washington state Senate. Initiative 960, which requires all new taxes to be approved with a two-thirds majority vote and was approved by voters in 2007, is being suspended by majority [[Democrats]]. Don Benton commented on the suspension of I-960 by majority Democrats, and how Democrats have run rampant in the state of Washington for too long and have refused to answer to the people.