# Carl Benito

Carlito M. Benito (born February 21, 1954) is a former Filipino Canadian politician from Alberta. Benito served as the member of Legislative Assembly of Alberta (MLA) for the electoral district of Edmonton-Mill Woods from 2008 to 2012 as a member of the Progressive Conservative.

## Early life and career

Benito was born February 21, 1954, in Manila, Philippines. He immigrated to Canada in 1982. He worked as a real estate and insurance agent.

## Political career

In the 2001 Alberta election, Benito ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Edmonton-Mill Woods but lost to Weslyn Mather.
He ran again in 2008, this time defeating Mather. He described himself as Alberta's first Filipino MLA.
In 2012, Benito lost the Progressive Conservative nomination for his riding, placing third behind Sohail Quadri and Ron Randhawa. He ran in the 2012 election as an independent. He lost the election, placing fifth.

### Controversies

During his 2008 election campaign, Benito pledged would donate his salary as an MLA (approximately $75,000) to a scholarship fund. He later claimed that he did not mean he would give away his entire salary, just a part of it.
Benito blamed his wife for a failure to pay property taxes on their rental properties. Benito later paid the taxes after the matter was covered in a front-page Edmonton Journal article.
In October 2022, Benito, together with his son, Charles Benito, pleaded guilty to immigration fraud. Benito was fined $75,000 for the offence.

## Election results
### 2001 general election

| 2001 Alberta general election results | 2001 Alberta general election results | 2001 Alberta general election results | Turnout 54.39% | Turnout 54.39% |
| Affiliation | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Don Massey | 4,920 | 48.97% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Carl Benito | 4,402 | 43.81% |
| | New Democratic | Mel Buffalo | 725 | 7.22% |
| 2008 Alberta general election results (Edmonton-Mill Woods) | 2008 Alberta general election results (Edmonton-Mill Woods) | 2008 Alberta general election results (Edmonton-Mill Woods) | Turnout 40.1% | Turnout 40.1% |
| Affiliation | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Carl Benito | 4752 | 44% |
| | Liberal | Weslyn Mather | 3996 | 37% |
| | NDP | Christina Gray | 1474 | 14% |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Robert Leddy | 320 | 3% |
| | Green | David A. Hrushka | 290 | 3% |
vte2012 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Mill Woods :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Sohail Quadri | 4,942 | 35.21% | -8.66% |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Joanne Autio | 3,312 | 23.60% | 20.64% |
| | Liberal | Weslyn Mather | 2,988 | 21.29% | -15.60% |
| | New Democratic | Sandra Azocar | 1,985 | 14.14% | 0.54% |
| | Independent | Carl Benito | 545 | 3.88% | – |
| | Alberta Party | Robert Leddy | 262 | 1.87% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 14,034 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 111 | 68 | 7 |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 25,920 | 54.60% | 15.49% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 2.32% |
| Source(s) Source: "41 - Edmonton-Mill Woods, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Chief Electoral Officer (2012). The Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2011 Provincial Enumeration and Monday, April 23, 2012 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-eighth Legislative Assembly (PDF) (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021. |||||||