Now this will be interesting

From the Seattle Times:

Don Benton, veteran state senator, seeks to take on Patty Murray in November
State Sen. Don Benton has become the latest, and possibly the strongest, candidate to announce he's running for Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's seat this fall.

Benton, R-Vancouver, has been a state senator since 1996 and also served a term in the state House of Representatives. He said Sunday he was inspired in part by Republican Sen. Scott Brown's upset victory in Massachusetts, and he's retained the same consulting team behind Brown's candidacy.

State Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz called Benton's legislative record "unimpressive." He said Benton "may be the strongest candidate in the race so far," but only because the other six candidates have no political experience.

Benton said he believes in "common-sense conservatism" and criticized Murray as "moving in lock-step" with President Obama on an agenda to nationalize banks, medicine and the auto industry.

A critic of big government and an opponent of tax increases, he says he's in alignment with members of the Tea Party movement and their call for smaller government and lower taxes. Benton said he has never voted to increase taxes in his 16-year tenure in the Legislature.

I love that comment: State Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz called Benton's legislative record "unimpressive." Benton has run a business for many years, has served successfully in office for 16 years and is a fiscal conservative. Murray has done nothing but follow the tax and spend lockstep that is making Washington a very difficult place to run a small business.