Lizbeth Benacquisto

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Lizbeth Benacquisto
Image of Lizbeth Benacquisto

Republican Party

Prior offices
Wellington City Council
Florida State Senate District 30
Florida State Senate District 27
Successor: Ray Rodrigues

Education

Bachelor's

Palm Beach Atlantic University

Lizbeth Benacquisto (Republican Party) was a member of the Florida State Senate, representing District 27. Benacquisto assumed office in 2016. Benacquisto left office on November 3, 2020.

Benacquisto served as Senate majority leader from 2013 to 2014.

Benacquisto was a 2014 Republican special election candidate seeking election to the U.S. House to represent the 19th Congressional District of Florida.[1][2][3][4] Benacquisto was defeated by Curt Clawson in the Republican primary on April 22, 2014.[5]

She also served on the Wellington City Council from 2002 to 2010.

Benacquisto was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Florida. She was one of 99 delegates from Florida pledged to support Donald Trump for three ballots.[6][7] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Benacquisto attended the University of Florida and Penn State University, and graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Her professional experience includes working as a realtor.

Committee assignments

2019-2020

Benacquisto was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Florida committee assignments, 2017
• Appropriations
• Judiciary, Vice chair
• Regulated Industries
• Rules, Chair
• Joint Legislative Budget Commission

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Benacquisto served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Benacquisto served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Benacquisto served on the following committees:

Campaign themes

2010

Benacquisto's website highlighted the following campaign themes.[8]

  • Fiscal Responsibility
Excerpt: "I have always been a strong fiscal conservative. In Tallahassee I’ll work to see that we use the same Wellington thought process in spending state dollars.”
  • Education
  • Volunteerism
Excerpt: “Good government isn’t about spending money, it’s about using the resources we have."
  • The Environment
Excerpt: "She has a fundamental and unwavering commitment to a healthy environment, to preserving scarce wetlands and restoring critical habitat. Her intricate involvement in Everglades and groundwater protections will serve the citizens of District 27 well in the Florida Senate."
  • Recreational Opportunities

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2020

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2020

Lizbeth Benacquisto was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2016

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.

Incumbent Lizbeth Benacquisto ran unopposed in the Florida State Senate District 27 general election.[9][10]

Florida State Senate, District 27 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Lizbeth Benacquisto Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Florida Division of Elections



Incumbent Lizbeth Benacquisto defeated Jason Maughan in the Florida State Senate District 27 Republican primary.[11][12]

Florida State Senate, District 27 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Lizbeth Benacquisto Incumbent 68.59% 38,584
     Republican Jason Maughan 31.41% 17,672
Total Votes 56,256

2014

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 20, 2014. Incumbent Lizbeth Benacquisto defeated Michael Dreikorn in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[13][14]

Florida State Senate, District 30 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLizbeth Benacquisto Incumbent 59.5% 40,825
Michael Dreikorn 40.5% 27,772
Total Votes 68,597

2014

SimmeringRace.jpg
See also: Florida's 19th Congressional District special election, 2014

Benacquisto was a candidate in the 2014 special election for the U.S. House to represent Florida's 19th District.[1][15]

She was defeated by Curt Clawson in the Republican primary on April 22, 2014.[5]

Endorsements

  • Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Tom Rooney endorsed Benacquisto on March 10, 2014.[16]
    • “Washington is broken and this president has no interest in fixing it. Lizbeth’s fighting spirit and proven ability to get things done are just what we need to get things moving for hard-working Florida families, ” Diaz-Balart said.[16]
    • “Lizbeth is a proven and trusted leader. Washington desperately needs more people like her and I look forward to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her to fight for the fiscal responsibility the people of Florida need and deserve,” said Rooney.[16]
  • Sarah Palin endorsed Benacquisto on March 26, 2014.[17][18]
    • "We have been lucky to visit southwest Florida on several occasions and know it is one of the warmest places in the country. The warmth comes not only from the sun, but also from the citizens. We met many dedicated patriots in Naples, Florida, on our recent book tour. They deserve better representation than what they have had recently. Lizbeth Benacquisto is the only proven conservative in the race. She served her constituents well and has never forgotten who put her in office – the people. Lizbeth will take these values to Washington to fight for us all," Palin wrote on Facebook.[17][19]
  • Ann Wagner endorsed Benacquisto on April 8, 2014.[21]
    • “The people of the 19th District have lost faith in their elected officials. And the only candidate that can restore the sacred foundation of trust and integrity is Lizbeth Benacquisto. I am proud to endorse Lizbeth because she is the only conservative in this race that will get the job done,” Wagner said.
  • Diane Black endorsed Benacquisto on April 8, 2014.[21]
    • “Lizbeth Benacquisto is the only trusted candidate in this race that will protect the values we hold so dear. Whether it’s defending the sanctity of life, repealing ObamaCare, or reducing our massive debt — I know Lizbeth will be fearless in that fight to protect the integrity of this great nation,” Black said in a statement.[21]

2012

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2012

Benacquisto won re-election in the 2012 election for Florida State Senate District 30. Benacquisto ran unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012, and defeated Debbie Jordan (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[22][23]

Florida State Senate, District 30, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLizbeth Benacquisto Incumbent 62.3% 123,794
     Democratic Debbie Jordan 37.7% 74,871
Total Votes 198,665

2010

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2010

Benacquisto won election, defeating Kevin Rader (D) in the November 2 general election.[24]

Florida State Senate, District 27
2010 General election results
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Lizbeth Benacquisto (R) 79,750 54.12%
Kevin J.G. Rader (D) 67,621 45.88%

Benacquisto defeated Mike Lameyer and Sharon J. Merchant in the August 24 primary.

Florida State Senate, District 27 - Republican primary (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Lizbeth Benacquisto 12,217
Sharon J. Merchant 11,307
Mike Lameyer 7,706

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Lizbeth Benacquisto campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2016Florida State Senate, District 27Won $1,336,617 N/A**
2014Florida State Senate, District 30Won $133,126 N/A**
2012Florida State Senate, District 30Won $729,246 N/A**
2010Florida State Senate, District 27Won $618,808 N/A**
Grand total$2,817,797 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

2016 Republican National Convention

See also: Republican National Convention, 2016

Benacquisto was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Florida. She was bound to Donald Trump.

Delegate rules

See also: RNC delegate guidelines from Florida, 2016 and Republican delegates from Florida, 2016

In Florida, delegates to the national convention were selected at congressional district conventions and the state executive meeting. All 99 delegates were bound for three ballots at the Republican National Convention to the winner of the statewide primary.

Florida primary results

See also: Presidential election in Florida, 2016
Florida Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates
Jeb Bush 1.8% 43,511 0
Ben Carson 0.9% 21,207 0
Chris Christie 0.1% 2,493 0
Ted Cruz 17.1% 404,891 0
Carly Fiorina 0.1% 1,899 0
Jim Gilmore 0% 319 0
Lindsey Graham 0% 693 0
Mike Huckabee 0.1% 2,624 0
John Kasich 6.8% 159,976 0
Rand Paul 0.2% 4,450 0
Marco Rubio 27% 638,661 0
Rick Santorum 0.1% 1,211 0
Green check mark transparent.pngDonald Trump 45.7% 1,079,870 99
Totals 2,361,805 99
Source: The New York Times and Florida Department of State

Delegate allocation

See also: Republican National Convention, 2016 and 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
Logo-GOP.png

Florida had 99 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 81 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 27 congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the statewide vote received all of Florida's district delegates.[25][26]

Of the remaining 18 delegates, 15 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the statewide vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the candidate who won the state's primary.[25][26]

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Florida

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.






2020

In 2020, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 19.

Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 'Miami Herald, "FL Senate's GOP leader, Benacquisto, plans to announce bid for Radel congressional seat Monday," accessed February 3, 2014
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named specpos
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named mack
  4. ↑ News Press, "Ledge Notebook: State Sen. Benacquisto expected to announce run for Congress," accessed February 3, 2014
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Associated Press, "Primary Results," accessed April 22, 2014
  6. ↑ Republican Party of Florida, "Florida GOP announces 99 delegates," May 14, 2016
  7. ↑ Republican Party of Florida, "Party Rules of Procedure," January 15, 2011
  8. ↑ Lizbeth Benacquisto campaign website, "Welcome," accessed November 2, 2010
  9. ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidate listing for 2016 general election," accessed September 12, 2016
  10. ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 23, 2016
  11. ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidates and Races," accessed July 1, 2016
  12. ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "August 30, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed September 22, 2016
  13. ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "2014 Florida Election Watch - Multi-County or District Offices," accessed September 3, 2014
  14. ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election," accessed June 23, 2014
  15. ↑ Miami Herald, "Special election scheduled to fill Radel's seat," accessed January 31, 2014 (dead link)
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Sunshine State News, "Lizbeth Benacquisto Gets Backing of Florida Congressmen," accessed March 11, 2014
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Tampa Bay Times, "Sarah Palin endorses Benacquisto in congressional race," accessed March 31, 2014
  18. ↑ Biz Pac Review, "Sarah Palin endorses fellow ‘mama grizzly’ Lizbeth Benacquisto for Fla. CD19," accessed March 31, 2014
  19. ↑ Sunshine State News, "Sarah Palin Takes Center Stage in CD 19 Special Election," accessed April 7, 2014
  20. ↑ Biz Pac Review, "Florida Five: Benacquisto scores another national endorsement, Film-incentive program revamped," accessed April 8, 2014
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Roll Call, "House Republican Women Endorse in Florida Special Primary," accessed April 19, 2014
  22. ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed April 15, 2012
  23. ↑ Florida Department of Elections, "Official Primary Results," accessed December 18, 2014
  24. ↑ Florida Department of Elections, "November 2, 2010, Election Results," November 2, 2010
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
Political offices
Preceded by
Jeff Clemens (D) 		Florida State Senate District 27
2016-2020 		Succeeded by
Ray Rodrigues (R)
Preceded by
Maria Sachs (D) 		Florida Senate District 30
2012–2016 		Succeeded by
Bobby Powell Jr. (D)
Preceded by
Dave Aronberg 		Florida Senate District 27
2010–2012 		Succeeded by
Jeff Clemens
v • e
State senate majority leaders
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AL: Steve Livingston (R) • AK: Catherine A. Giessel (R) • AZ: Janae Shamp (R) • AR: Blake Johnson (R) • CA: TBD • CO: Robert Rodriguez (D) • CT: Bob Duff (D) • DE: Bryan Townsend (D) • FL: Jim Boyd (R) • GA: Steve Gooch (R) • HI: Dru Kanuha (D) • ID: Lori Den Hartog (R) • IL: Kimberly Lightford (D) • IN: Chris Garten (R) • IA: Jack Whitver (R) • KS: Chase Blasi (R) • KY: Max Wise (R) • ME: TBD (D) • MD: Nancy King (D) • MA: Cynthia Stone Creem (D) • MI: Winnie Brinks (D) • MN: Erin Murphy (D) • MO: Tony Leutkemeyer (R) • MT: Tom McGillvray (R) • NV: Nicole Cannizzaro (D) • NH: Regina Birdsell (R) • NJ: Teresa Ruiz (New Jersey) (D) • NM: Peter Wirth (D) • NY: Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) • NC: Paul Newton (R) • ND: David Hogue (R) • OH: Theresa Gavarone (R) • OK: TBD • OR: Kayse Jama (D) • PA: Joe Pittman (R) • RI: Valarie Lawson (D) • SC: Shane Massey (R) • SD: Jim Mehlhaff (R) • TN: Jack Johnson (R) • UT: Kirk Cullimore (R) • VT: Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D) • VA: Scott Surovell (D) • WA: Jamie Pedersen (D) • WV: Patrick Martin (R) • WI: Devin LeMahieu (R) • WY: Tara Nethercott (R)


Current members of the Florida State Senate
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Jim Boyd (R)
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