Republican State Senator Don Benton announces he'll run against Patty Murray

Didn't see this coming, but whatever:

Republican state Sen. Don Benton announced Saturday evening that he’s planning a run against Democrat U.S. Senator Patty Murray.

Benton made his announcement at the Clark County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner at the Hilton Vancouver Washington before hundreds of attendees. He said he’s been considering entering the race for weeks and made up his mind earlier this week.

“I’m running because we need a senator who will represent all the people of the state of Washington and not just the government,” Benton said.

We already have such a senator and her name is Patty Murray.

Considering Don Benton's lousy attendance record for floor votes and committee hearings in the State Senate, Murray has nothing to worry about from him. The first rule in politics is show up, and Benton, well... doesn't.

Benton, by the way, once ran against Brian Baird for U.S. Representative and lost. This year, has lent his name to be used as a cosponsor of Tim Eyman's Initiative 1053, as have fellow senators Janea Holmquist and Pam Roach. Roach and Homquist showed up at Eyman's press conference on January 11th to hype the initiative. Benton, of course, failed to make it to the Secretary of State's office.

Benton, who represents the 17th Legislative District (Vancouver area), also chaired the Washington State Republican Party at the turn of the millennium. He did such a good job that he was fired after only eight months on the job:

Benton's clashes with party leaders in his eight months opened the way for an unusually public race for party chairman. He has been criticized for not spending enough money on candidates in the fall campaigns, and for buying a building in Olympia and announcing the party would move there from Tukwila without getting approval of the party's executive board.

The board asked Benton, a state senator from Vancouver, to resign last month but he refused.

Diane Tebelius, GOP national committeewoman, said after the vote that the state party still has "substantial problems" with the Republican National Committee because of how Benton managed campaign money.

When Benton took over the party last year he angered some members by firing the staff and changing the locks on the party headquarters.

Benton apparently fancies himself to be the next Scott Brown... he says he's hired the same consulting team that worked with Brown to help him.

It remains to be seen whether his decision to run will complicate matters for Republicans trying to field a credible challenger to Murray.