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Megan Blair Benton
Confirmed Trump 2.0
Confirmed to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
On November 14, 2025, President Trump nominated Megan Blair Benton to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She was confirmed on February 4, 2026.
Biography
Born in Columbia, Missouri in 1985, Benton studied at Lincoln University (2004) before she earned her B.A. and M.A., both in political science, from Emory University in 2007. She earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2010.
Legal Experience
Benton began her legal career as a summer law clerk at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in 2008 and 2009. After law school, she clerked for Judges Ralph W. Dau and Barbara M. Scheper at the Los Angeles County Superior Court (2011–2012).
She then joined The Kuhlman Law Firm (2012–2014) before serving as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office (2014–2017; 2019–2021). Benton later joined the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Platte County, Missouri, serving first as an Associate Circuit Judge (2021–2023) and currently as a Circuit Judge (2023–present).
Key Facts
- Member of the Federalist Society since 2008.
- Was the Chairwoman of the Platte County Republican Central Committee. Appointed to the position in 2016 and re-elected in 2018 and 2020.
- Authored a 2007 article titled In God We Trust: Messaging and Evangelical Political Behavior about the importance of the evangelical Christian vote to the electorate, and particularly to the success of the Republican Party, hypothesizing that evangelical Christians are more likely to vote for “morals messaging.” She quoted heavily from conservative evangelicals Jerry Falwell, founder of the ultra-conservative Liberty University, and James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, an organization designated as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Daughter of the 8th Circuit Judge Duane Benton, nominated by George W. Bush in 2004.
- Endorsed by the Missouri Right to Life PAC in 2024 when running in a retention election for her circuit court judgeship.