Florida State Legislature
In 1988 Wasserman Schultz became an aide to Peter Deutsch at the beginning of his state legislative career. In 1992 Deutsch made a successful run for United States House of Representatives for Florida's 20th District. Wasserman Schultz recalled getting a call from Deutsch at the time: "It was really amazing. He called me at home one day in the middle of the legislative session and he said, You could run in my race, your house is in my district." Wasserman Schultz won 53 percent of the vote in a six-way Democratic primary and avoided a runoff. She went on to win the general election and succeeded Deutsch in Florida's House of Representatives. At the age of 26 she became the youngest female legislator in the state's history.
She served in the Florida State House of Representatives for eight years, and had to leave office due to state term limits. In addition to her work as a state legislator, she became an adjunct instructor of political science at Broward Community College, as well as a public policy curriculum specialist at Nova Southeastern University. With her experience in the Florida House, she ran for the Florida State Senate in 2000 and was again victorious. She supported legislation requiring gender price parity for dry cleaning and an equal number of men and women were appointed to state boards. She pushed through several bills including the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act and one creating a Children's Services Council for Broward County. She received an award from the Save The Manatee Club for her commitment to manatee protection as state senator.
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