Ashley Brundage, a Democrat and mother of two from Florida qualified to run for the state house last week, a race, which if won, would make her the state’s first trans elected official.
Brundage, who was awarded a “Spirit of the Community Award” from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women in 2022, hopes to represent Hillsborough County’s 65th House District, the area that she calls home in Tampa with her family.
Prior to launching her campaign Brundage founded Empowering Differences, which offers motivational speaking, leadership development, and organizational training in DEI. Brundage founded the company in 2011, as she recognized the need for leadership based training to empower and inspire organizations and diverse individuals.
Through her public platforms, Brundage has been open about her gender transition, which she pursued in 2008. Since she has transitioned, she has continued to give back to her community serving on the Corporate Advisory Council for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). She has also served as chair for the NGLCC’s global TGNC Inclusion Task Force. In 2019, she elected to the National Board of Directors for GLAAD.
Before that she worked for years as Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at PNC Financial Services. With her strong background in DEI, Brundage is the antithesis of Gov. Ron DeSantis who wrote on X back in march “Florida is where DEI goes to die.”
Brundage told Pink News, “it’s time to shift the conversation about culture war topics to the things affecting all 22 million Floridians like out of control insurance costs, empowerment for small businesses, and getting the government out of making decisions about people’s bodies.”
Brundage still has a race to win against Nathan Kuiper in the Democratic primary for House District 65 on August 20. A win for Brundage would not only be a win for LGBTQ+ Floridians, but for queer folk around the country.
