She received her associate's degree in nursing from Daytona Beach Community College (now Daytona State College) in 1971 and her bachelor's degree in psychology from Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida in 1984.

[2] She was first elected to the House in 2000, when she defeated Pat Patterson for the District 26 seat, and was subsequently re-elected in 2004.

[3] Cusack was re-elected to a fourth term in the Florida House, beating former Ormond Beach Mayor Dave Hood with about 63 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results on November 7, 2006.

[4] Cusack was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Bethune-Cookman University in 2007, she left the Florida Legislature in May 2008 due to term limits.

In November 2010, she won the Volusia County Council at-large seat defeating Margie Patchett.