Amy Mercado is of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in the Bronx, New York by Carmen L. Rodriguez-Torres, a New York City Police Department Officer, and Victor M. Torres, a New York City Transit Police Detective.  She graduated from the Academy of Mt. St. Ursula in the Bronx, New York and continued her higher education as a non-traditional student while raising her children, caring for her ailing grandparents and working full time.  In 2004, she graduated from American Intercontinental University with Cum Laude honors and received a B.A. in Business Administration, with a concentration in Management.

Amy relocated to Florida with her family in 1995 and has been a resident of House District 35 since 1997.  Amy has built a strong reputation as a dependable and diplomatic political activist in several community organizations and grassroots efforts throughout the State of Florida.  Amy is the current President of the Orange County Democratic Hispanic Caucus, Interim Secretary of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement’s Central Florida Chapter, and Secretary of the Florida Council of the League of United Latin American Citizens.  In addition, she is a member of the Orange County Chapter of the Florida Voters League, the Florida Democratic Party’s Central/State Executive Committee and its Affirmative Action Committee.

Amy was one of the original members of Orlando 4 Obama and campaigned tirelessly for then Senator Obama and several local candidates during the 2008 election cycle. Amy was honored to be appointed as one of Senator Obama’s Florida Delegates and attended the Democratic National Convention with her mother who was an elected Delegate.  In December 2008, Amy accompanied her mother, a Florida Elector, to Tallahassee to cast her Electoral vote.