Diane E. Benson facts for kids

Diane E. Benson (born October 17, 1954) is an Alaskan politician, writer, and actress. She has run for important government jobs, including lieutenant governor of Alaska. A lieutenant governor is like a vice president for a state.

In 2010, she was the Democratic Party's choice for lieutenant governor. She ran with Ethan Berkowitz, who was running for governor. They did not win the election.

Benson has been involved in politics for many years. She ran for governor in 2002 with the Green Party. In 2006, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. She received 40% of the vote, which was a strong result for a challenger.

Early Life and Schooling

Diane Benson was born in Yakima, Washington, in 1954. Her mother was being treated for an illness called tuberculosis there. Her father's family came from Norway, and her mother's family is Tlingit, a Native Alaskan group. Her Tlingit identity is T'akdeintaan (Sea Tern) and her clan house is Tax' Hit (Snail House).

Benson grew up in southeastern Alaska. She lived in foster homes, a boarding school, and logging camps with her father. She also lived in Sitka with her grandparents. At age 12, she started volunteering at a hospital.

Even when facing challenges, she worked in jobs that helped others. At 18, she was the youngest person to serve on the board of the Fairbanks Native Association. In 1975, she got a job driving large tractor-trailer trucks for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project.

In the 1980s, she drove concrete-mixer trucks to pay for college. She also worked as a paralegal, helping people with legal problems at Alaska Legal Services. In the 1990s, she ran a talent agency to help Alaskan actors get roles in movies and commercials.

In 2002, Benson earned a master's degree in creative writing. She studied with the famous author N. Scott Momaday, who won a Pulitzer Prize.

Career in Theatre and Writing

Benson started her acting career in 1980. She has performed in many plays with major theatre companies in Alaska. She also taught acting to inmates in prisons and led theatre programs for kids. In 1985, she created the first modern Alaska Native theatre group.

She wrote several plays, including Sister Warrior and When My Spirit Raised Its Hands. Her one-woman show about Elizabeth Peratrovich, an early civil rights leader in Alaska, has been very successful. She even performed it at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Benson has also worked in movies and television. She appeared in the Disney movie White Fang and the TV show Real Stories of the Highway Patrol. She also helped produce a video called Pathways to Hope, which was about helping people heal from difficult experiences.

Awards and Recognition

Benson has received many awards for her work.

• In 2000, she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her poetry.
• In 2005, she won a Goldie Award for her work on a radio program called Today in Alaska Native History.
• In 2006, the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission gave her an Outstanding Service Award.
• In 2012, she received a national award for her work helping victims of crime.

Political Career

Benson first entered politics in 2002. She ran for governor as a Green Party candidate. She and her running mate, Della Coburn, were the first two Native women to run together for governor and lieutenant governor in Alaska.

Running for U.S. Congress

In 2006, Benson ran for Alaska's seat in the U.S. Congress as a Democrat. She ran against Don Young, who had been in office for a long time. Her campaign did not have a lot of money, but she still got 40% of the vote.

During her campaign, she called for an end to the war in Iraq and for better equipment for soldiers. This was very personal for her because her son was badly injured while serving in Iraq. She was the first person to debate her opponent on live television. She also successfully argued to be allowed to speak at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, a large conference where challengers were not usually invited to speak.

Running for Lieutenant Governor

In 2010, Benson won the Democratic primary election to become the nominee for lieutenant governor. She ran on the same ticket as Ethan Berkowitz, who was running for governor. They lost the election, but Benson continues to teach and support veterans and victims of crime.

Personal Life

Benson lives in Petersburg, Alaska, a small fishing town. She has one foster daughter and one son. Her son, Latseen Benson, is a U.S. Army veteran who was seriously wounded in Iraq in 2005.