William Alan Trask (June 26, 1933 – January 9, 2019) was an American politician in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Trask was born in

Bartow, Florida Bartow ( ) is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American C ...

. He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

. He was elected to the State Senate for the 27th district in 1968 and served until 1971. He was redistricted to the 13th district in 1973, and served until 1982. He was a former president pro tempore of the senate and was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 1981, he and Florida Representative Tom Bush successfully attached an amendment to the state budget that would deny funding to any state university that advocated sexual activity between unmarried adults. Within months, Florida's Supreme Court unanimously ruled the provision an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. Shortly thereafter, several ethics allegations were made against Senator Trask, and he resigned from office in July 1982. He later switched to the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. Trask died on January 9, 2019.

References

1933 births 2019 deaths People from Bartow, Florida Florida Southern College alumni University of Florida alumni Farmers from Florida Florida Democrats Florida Republicans Florida state senators {{Florida-politician-stub