Ken Bennett

Ken Bennett
19th Secretary of State of Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 26, 2009
Governor	Jan Brewer
Preceded by	Jan Brewer
President of the Arizona Senate
In office January 2003 – January 2007
Preceded by	Randall Gnant
Succeeded by	Tim Bee
Personal details
Born	1959 (age 54–55) Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Tenney
Children	3
Alma mater	Yavapai College Arizona State University
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Website	Government website

Ken Bennett (born 1959) is a Republican politician and businessman who served as president of the Arizona Senate, and is currently serving as the Secretary of State of Arizona.

Biography

Bennett was born in Tucson into a family that were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). He later moved to Prescott, Arizona, where he attended Prescott High School and Yavapai College. Between terms there he served a two-year mission in southern Japan. In 1981 he transferred to Arizona State University and graduated with a degree in accounting.

Business career

In 2008, Bennett was named Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of GeoBio Energy, a company attempting to develop and market alternative fuel from plant sources such as algae. Bennett served as CEO of his family fuel distribution business, Bennett's Oil Co., from 1985 to 2006.

In 1989, several underground petroleum storage tanks owned by Bennett's Oil Co. released petroleum into the environment. In the years following, Bennett's undertook various remedies to decontaminate the area, paid for by its insurance company. Bennett's insurer, Federated Mutual Insurance, submitted five separate applications to the state for periodic reimbursement of the cleanup costs. The first four were approved, but the last was denied under a recently enacted statute limiting reimbursement to costs not covered by insurance. Bennett's appealed the denial in court, arguing that the law was intended only to prevent double recovery, not to limit the state to providing only secondary insurance. The court affirmed the state's interpretation of the law and denied reimbursement.^[1]

This later came to prominence when as a state senator (see below), Bennett co-sponsored a bill in 2004 which would provide reimbursement for oil company cleanup costs already covered under private insurance.^[2] Some accused Bennett of a conflict of interest, given that his own company would benefit from this change.^[3] The bill never made it out of committee and did not become law.

Prescott City Council

Bennett was elected to the Prescott City Council in 1985 and served one term and during that term he was Mayor Pro Tem in 1988.

State Board of Education

He was appointed to the Arizona State Board of Education in 1992, serving as president in 1996 and 1998.

Arizona Senate

In 1998 he was elected to the Arizona State Senate, where he served as Chairman of the Education Committee for two years and President of the Senate for four years (2003–2007). After eight years in the State Senate, he was prevented from seeking re-election in 2006 because of term limits, which he opposes.^[4] He abandoned a run for governor in 2006, but he said that he would run for statewide or federal office in the future.^[5]

Secretary of State

When Jan Brewer ascended from Arizona Secretary of State to Governor upon Janet Napolitano's resignation to become United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Brewer chose Bennett to be the new Secretary of State.^[6] Normally, the Secretary of State is first in line to succeed the Governor should she have resigned, become removed from office, or become permanently disabled from being able to discharge her duties. However, as Bennett was not elected as Secretary of State, then-Attorney General Terry Goddard would have become first in line to succeed Brewer.^[7] Bennett was sworn in as Secretary of State on January 26.

In May 2012, Bennett indicated he might attempt to remove President Barack Obama from the 2012 Presidential election ballot. Although Hawaiian officials have repeatedly confirmed Obama's birth in Hawaii, Bennett sought to have Hawaiian officials write to him personally. Bennett stated he had not made a similar request regarding any other Presidential candidate. Bennett denied being a "Birther", stating that he believes Obama was indeed born in Hawaii.^[8] Bennett also changed his position regarding the impartial role of the Secretary of State when he agreed to co-chair the presidential bid by Republican Mitt Romney. Bennett acknowledged that is a change in his personal policy.^[9] In October 2012, Bennett contributed as a guest columnist to the Sonoran Alliance website which markets itself as offering a 'blatantly conservative worldview'. In the column, Bennett appeals to the conservative readership to make their vote count.^[10]

2010 election

Bennett won election to a full term as Secretary of State in the November 2010 general election, defeating his Democratic opponent Chris Deschene with 59% of the vote.^[11] Bennett was sworn in for a full term on January 3, 2011, at this point becoming the first in line to succeed Brewer (who had also been elected to a full term) to the governorship.

Political future

In May 2012, Bennett formed an exploratory committee to run for Governor of Arizona in 2014.^[12]

On Sunday, December 2, 2012, Bennett became acting governor of Arizona, when current Governor Jan Brewer left the state for an unannounced trip to Afghanistan.^[13][14]

References

External links

• Arizona Secretary of State biography