Benson said she can use her experience, knowledge of issues and contacts made in her previous campaigns for Congress. She said she'd work well with any of the three Democrats so far running for governor. "It seemed like a perfect fit," she said.
Benson, who ran unsuccessfully for Don Young's congressional seat in the last two elections, said it was a painful decision not to challenge Young again.
"The reality is that it takes an enormous amount of effort and sacrifice, especially for a person who doesn't have individual wealth, to run a congressional campaign," Benson said.
Benson said she sees the lieutenant governor as being an ambassador of the state. She said she wants to focus on economic issues, in addition to working on issues of violence against women and veterans' rights.
Benson, 55, recently portrayed civil rights pioneer Elizabeth Peratrovich as an actress and writer in the film "For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska," shown during the Alaska Federation of Natives convention and on public television stations.
She said she's teaching courses at the University of Alaska Anchorage on women and social action and Native women surviving violence. She's on the municipality's Americans With Disabilities Act advisory commission and the board of the Alaska Veterans Foundation. Benson's son, Latseen, lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Benson lost to Ethan Berkowitz in last year's Democratic congressional primary, picking up 28,347 votes to 39,784 for Berkowitz, who is running for governor this time around. Benson had 93,879 votes in the 2006 general election, to 132,743 for Republican Don Young.
Benson also ran unsuccessfully for governor on the Green Party ticket in 2002.
The field for next year's lieutenant governor's race is small but expected to grow. On the Republican side, Fairbanks representative Jay Ramras is running in the primary against Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell.
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