He was a Republican congressman from West Virginia, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1983.

Staton was born in Parkersburg, a city in Wood County, West Virginia.

Staton served as the data processing manager and, later, vice president at Kanawha Valley Bank in Charleston, where he worked from 1972 until 1980.

He was unsuccessful in his first bid for Congress, in 1978, when he lost to longtime 3rd Congressional District incumbent John M. Slack, Jr.

After losing his seat in the House of Representatives, Staton served as chief political advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1984 until 1990.