Ashley Viola Gantt (born c. 1984)[2] is an American lawyer, politician, and former schoolteacher. She is the District 109 Representative in the Florida House of Representatives.

Ashley Gantt
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 109th district
Assumed office
November 8, 2022
Preceded byJames Bush
Personal details
Born
Ashley Viola Gantt

(1985-04-14) April 14, 1985 (age 39)[1]
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materUniversity of Florida (BA)
Shepard Broad College of Law
Nova Southeastern University (JD)

Early life and education

edit

Gantt earned a B.A. in English from the University of Florida in 2007.[3] She joined the Teach For America Mississippi Delta Corps for two years.[3] She taught as a middle school and high school teacher for six years at Miami-Dade County Public Schools before beginning law school.[3] Gantt completed a J.D. at the Shepard Broad College of Law in 2016.[4]

In the 2022 Florida House of Representatives election, she criticized incumbent representative James Bush for voting with Republicans on the recent abortion ban legislation and the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act.[2] On August 23, 2022, she won the Democratic primary for District 109.[5] She was backed by Service Employees International Union and Ruth’s List Florida.[6] Gantt had no opponents in the general election.[6]

Political career

edit
Democratic Ashley Gantt 7,385 51.75%
Democratic James Bush III 6,886 48.25%
Total votes 14,271 100%

References

edit
  1. ^ "State Representative Ashley Gantt's page". myfloridahouse.gov.
  2. ^ a b Lim, Clarissa-Jan (August 24, 2022). "A Florida Judge Who Denied A Teen Girl An Abortion Because Of Her Grades Was Voted Out Of Office". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  3. ^ a b c Gantt, Ashley V. "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Shepard Broad College of Law.
  4. ^ "Ashley V. Gantt". Shepard Broad College of Law. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  5. ^ Klas, Mary Ellen (August 24, 2022). "Gantt upsets incumbent James Bush III in state House District 109". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  6. ^ a b "Four Florida House members lost their seats in Tuesday's primary elections". WFSU News. 2022-08-24. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
edit