[3] Benacquisto was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1967 and moved to Florida in 1978, where she attended Palm Beach Atlantic University and worked as a realtor and marketing consultant.

Rader accused Benacquisto of committing 105 election law violations in a television advertisement, a claim which Politifact rated as a true statement.

[7] In the end, following a toughly-fought campaign, Benacquisto defeated her opponent by a surprisingly wide margin, winning 54% of the vote to pick up the seat for the Republican Party.

She moved to Fort Myers in the new 30th, won her party's nomination unopposed, and faced off against Democratic nominee Debbie Jordan in the general election.

The Naples Daily News endorsed Benacquisto for re-election, praising her for the fact that she "sponsored the Andrew Widman Act to better track dangerous criminals and the Silver Alert Program to protect seniors astray."