Benson previously served on Pensacola City Council as the representative for District 1, from 1988 to 1990; she resigned to seek state office.
[1] Benson was initially appointed to the ECUA seat by Governor Jeb Bush on November 23, 2004,[2] following the October 31 resignation of George Watson.
She currently serves on the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority board member for Escambia County District 2.
She has also run for the Florida State Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Mayor of Pensacola, the latter of which she lost in 2001 to John Fogg.
In her 1994 bid to replace retiring Congressman Earl Hutto, she faced four other Republicans in the primary and received a plurality (31.4%) of votes.