Gingrich’s Wife a Factor in His Political Ambitions

Spouse, business partner, confidante and political ally, Callista Bisek Gingrich is also something of a question mark as her husband contemplates a White House run, The New York Times reports. Would her presence help or hinder candidate Newt Gingrich?

Their 17-year relationship began while then-House Speaker Gingrich was married to his second wife — a potential complication for a would-be GOP contender who must win over social conservatives.

At the same time, they have been married 11 years and friends of the couple say Callista Gingrich has been an undeniably positive influence on Newt Gingrich. She fostered his conversion to Catholicism, and as head of their Washington, D.C.-multimedia company, Gingrich Productions, she is his equal in their joint political and business endeavors.

“They’re a great couple that had a nontraditional start,” said one friend.
She also cuts an impressive figure in her own right: musician, athlete, and former Capitol Hill staffer who came to D.C. from a small town in Wisconsin.

The debate among friends and political observers is whether she wants him to run, and will she put up with the public scrutiny that shadows any presidential candidate’s spouse, let alone one with Gingrich's sometimes controversial background.