DEM Diane Benson prepares to win Alaska's at-large congressional seat

Diane Benson prepares to win Alaska's at-large congressional seat
October 22, 2007
by: Brian Daffron / Today correspondent
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415952

Diane Benson, Tlingit, congressional candidate


ANADARKO, Okla. - Overcoming adversity and intimidation is nothing new for Alaska native and Tlingit tribal member Diane Benson, a candidate on the Democrat ticket for Alaska's at-large congressional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, some would say that has been a major theme throughout her entire life.

Benson was 19 years old when she began driving tractor trailers on the Alaska Pipeline in 1975, being not only the lone woman truck driver in some cases, but also the only woman on a job site. Benson told Indian Country Today that the first time she ever drove a truck, she had an audience of 250 men on pipeline platforms.

''They all stopped to watch me turn the truck around. That's pretty intimidating,'' Benson said. ''When I was on one crew, they saved me literally inches between trucks to park my truck, and they all sat on the bus and watched, waiting to see if I would mess up. I pulled it forward. ... I did it in one move and was literally inches mirror-to-mirror. After that, I got on the bus and it was pretty quiet. One of the guys said, 'Make room for the trucker.'''

However, her work as a groundbreaking teamster doesn't even scratch the surface of what Benson has accomplished. With her family originally from the Sitka, Alaska, area, Benson grew up in ............