Lizbeth Benacquiso

Lizbeth Benacquiso has been making the rounds of Lehigh Acres talking to people about her bid to run for State Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Dave Aronberg, who has announced he will run for the state attorney’s seat in Tallahassee.

She is a Republican seeking to fill the District 27 seat. and will be on the ballot in 2010. While in Lehigh, she was also collecting signatures to get her on the ballot.

“Already I’ve gotten a few hundred signatures and I expect to get the 3,000 votes to qualify,” she said while in Lehigh.

Benacquiso lives in Wellington on the east coast and her home is in part of the sprawling district that the seat covers from Lee County all the way to the east coast. Aronberg lives on the east coast, too.

Her campaign manager is Cathy Brandenburg of N. Palm Beach who has had yeas of experience with Senate race campaigns.

“I’ve been a public service for 7 1/2 years and serving in the Senate will give me an opportunity to represent people and be an advent for them in these dire economic times,” she said.

As for the state of the economy with the high employment rates in Lee County and in Lehigh Acres, Benacquisto said she is afraid we may not feel the real hit for another year. But the economy will rebound,” she said.

She enjoys talking to people on the street and in the local businesses. “Interaction with people in Lehigh is about life as it is is. They know what’s going on. So my campaign is about the things I am learning from the people here,” she said.

Benacquisto is handing out cards saying she wants to revitalize our economy by cutting waste to lower taxes, help get Floridians back to work by supporting small businesses and supporting education by putting kids first.

She is an energetic young woman, five feet, five inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes and an friendly smile.

She is not new to politics, having been elected to the City Council of Wellington and has served almost eight years. She has been vice mayor for the past two years.

“My goal is to spend two days a week over here in Lee county. I want to meet as many people as I can and listen to what they have to say. I know they are facing difficult times and I want them to know I will represent them in Tallahassee well,” she said,

“I know we have to crate jobs; that is what the people everywhere here are telling me,” she said.

She has visited the Chamber of Commerce, officials at Lehigh Regional Medical Center and said he planned to volunteer this past weekend with the Rotary Club of Lehigh Acres which planned to make up to 50,000 meals for the hungry. Several volunteers met at the Christ United Methodist Church to work to accomplish this mission, along with other Rotary clubs.

“You know, what I hear so much about are the foreclosures in our area, especially in Lehigh. People can’t pay their mortgages and medical expenses.

“There’s a real sense of urgency here,” she said.

“We’ve got to work together to effect change,” she said.

Benacquisto says she even has plans to go door to door to as many homes as she can in the large district. I know school is out and people are on vacation so I plan to begin that phase when gets resumes.

“I love connecting with the folks and I’m meeting as many people as I can.

She said that the senate district has about 316,000 people and in Lehigh there are about 28,000 registered voters.

In addition to Lehigh, she is also visiting Bonita Springs and Estero, parts of the 27th District.

She encourages people to contact her by calling 561-602-1500 and for more information, you can go to her website at: Lizbeth@votelizbeth.com

“They can also follow me on Facebook sat ‘Lizbeth Benacquisto for State Senate – District 27,'” she said.