Editor’s note: This story contains sensitive topics of domestic violence and abuse and may be sensitive to some readers. The Alligator previously wrote that Amy Trask lost a custody battle. The story has been updated to reflect that she did not lose custody.
Amy Trask has experience with overcoming hardship. The 32-year-old hasn’t given up yet and continues to rebuild.
Trask publicy announced at Gainesville’s Metro Diner on Thursday evening she will run for the Florida House District 22 seat for the second consecutive year. The seat encompasses Gilchrist County, Levy County and parts of Alachua County.
In the 2024 election, Trask won both Gilchrist and Levy but came up short on Alachua votes and lost the Democratic primary to David Arreola.
Chad Johnson, a Republican, currently holds the seat and is expected to run for re-election.
Trask said she has learned through experience that she can get back up again.
She is a survivor of domestic violence, and she said she didn’t receive justice for the abuse she faced. She said it was “soul shattering” when she found herself in a system that wasn’t listening to her voice.
Trask said in her speech at the diner that a state attorney wouldn’t charge her abuser because she wasn’t conscious when it happened. Her abuser took their child and disappeared for two and a half years.
She later clarified that she maintained consciousness until the police came.
“How do you recover from that?” she asked. “I realized that I could choose. I could lay on the floor and I can give up and say, ‘this is my life’, or I can fight back.”
Drawing from her experience with domestic violence and family court, Trask hopes to introduce six bills during this year’s legislative session to help people in similar situations to her own.
Last year, she attempted to create The HAVEN Act (Helping Abuse Victims Escape Now). The act would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to create a website that would allow victims to discreetly notify police before the abuser knows law enforcement has been contacted. The bill died in June 2025, but she will try to push it through legislation again this year.
She is also introducing a bill called the "Survivor Safety Act,” which would require trauma-informed training for people within the criminal justice system and require a panel within the Florida Commission on Offender Review to learn about survivor self-defense.
Three of Trask’s additional proposed acts aim to protect children. One would guarantee a child's access, if requested, to court-appointed guardians and attorneys to ensure the child's voice in court is safe and could maintain long-term wellbeing when their case involves abuse. Another would make domestic violence shelters serve as a temporary residency for children escaping abuse from a guardian.
The third targets foster children specifically. The Fostering with Dignity Act would require every child entering the foster care system in Florida be provided with a reusable suitcase or duffle bag.
Trask is also proposing the Court Transcript Accessibility Act, which would ensure all Floridians could obtain court transcripts for appeals, post-conviction relief, legal defense and procedural fairness, regardless of income.
Gainesville City Commissioner James Ingle announced his endorsement for Trask at the event. Ingle said Florida residents deserve to have more understanding voices to represent them than those currently working in Tallahassee.
“The people who sit up there are so far removed from the consequences of their decisions. They don’t even understand what those consequences are,” Ingle said.
Ingle said he believes Trask is the person people need. She has an understanding of the system and won’t have to take time to “learn the ropes,” he said.
Lead pastor of Shift Church Joe Smith spoke at the announcement party and said the community needs someone that would roll up their sleeves and mix it up.
“There are still leaders rising up with courage, compassion and a vision for something greater,” Smith said. “Leaders who believe our state can be a place where every family has a fair shot, where communities are cared for, and where dignity is never up for debate.”
Smith said Trask can be that leader for District 22.
Contact Teia Williams at twilliams@alligator.org Follow her on X @teia_williams.
Teia is a general assignment reporter for Metro. She is also a second semester journalism transfer student from Daytona State College and served as Editor-in-Chief for In Motion, DSC's student newspaper. When she's not writing, Teia can be found reading, going to concerts, at the beach and talking about her favorite artists.
