Secretary Bennett names communications director for office

Director to help share office's mission on election integrity, public records

PHOENIX – Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett today announced that he has hired veteran newspaper reporter Matthew Benson as director of communications and community outreach for the state office.

Benson, previously a political reporter for The Arizona Republic, begins work in his new role immediately.

“Matt brings a decade of real-world media expertise to our communications effort,” Secretary Bennett said. “He'll help us share with the public our work to protect the vote, ensure fair and accurate elections and improve accessibility to public documents. We're thrilled to have Matt join the team.”

Benson will coordinate public communications for the Secretary of State's Office, and will be a primary contact for media members seeking information on state elections, voter registration and other issues. Within state government, he'll also work with the Library and Archives division to ensure that state agencies and departments are taking proper care to preserve significant documents and other records.

Communicating the secretary of state's mission is especially important in light of more than $1.7 million in budget reductions that the office and its Library and Archives division have sustained since the economic downturn began.

“I've long respected Secretary Bennett for his work in the Legislature,” Benson said, “and I now look forward to helping him communicate the steps being taken by this office on election integrity and other matters.”

Benson joined The Arizona Republic in late 2005, first assigned to cover Maricopa County government and, later, the Governor's Office. In that time, he became a fixture on the state political scene and a regular on political programs of television and radio. In 2008, Benson was The Republic's lead writer on congressional races leading up to the general election.

His journalism career got its start at the beginning of the decade in northern Colorado , where Benson spent six years writing for the Fort Collins Coloradoan . He is a graduate of Colorado State University . Benson, his wife, Kasey, and two big dogs share a home in Scottsdale .

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