TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pat Frank has been involved in Florida politics for almost 50 years.
It hasn't always been a smooth ride, especially not at the start.
- Pat Frank first elected to state legislature in 1976
- Frank was one of 1st women to receive undergraduate degree from UF
- Frank will retire from politics at the end of 2020
“It was definitely good ol' boys,” said Frank. “I mean, slapping each other on the back about all the things that they’d done.”
Frank will never forget the challenges she faced from male lawmakers after being elected to the state legislature in 1976.
“I got insulted, told to sit back in the corner and shut up,” Frank said.
But as a state senator, Frank moved ahead and sponsored key legislation like the initial Florida Commission on the Status of Women.
“The chairman of the judiciary committee said to me, I was presenting the bill, he said, 'where’s the commission on the status for men?'” Frank remembered. “'Where’s that? Do we have one?' I said, 'yes you do,' and he said, 'what is it?' I said, 'the Florida Senate.”
Frank’s trailblazing ways started before she entered politics. Years before becoming a lawmaker, she was the first woman to attend Georgetown Law School in Washington DC.
“I didn’t know they didn’t have any women,” Frank said. “I wanted to go to law school. I just walked up. I just knocked on the door.”
Frank was also among the first women to get accepted to the University of Florida as an undergraduate.
She said while the road has not always been easy, it has been rewarding. At 90 years old, she hopes her perseverance is a model for women everywhere. Frank will retire from politics by the end of the year.