Ryan’s Wife Could Be Weapon In Election Arsenal

Janna Ryan, wife of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, isn’t one to seek the limelight, but she may have a strong positive impact on her husband’s campaign.

“She probably provides a very unique perspective — a woman’s perspective,” Ginny Justice, former spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney, herself the wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, told Politico.

“Ryan’s out there talking about improving [and] growing jobs and the economy, and I think she can provide some interesting insight into how this impacts women. She’s considered a typical woman in America today, trying to juggle multiple balls in the air while raising a family.”

Janna Ryan, a graduate of Wellesley College and George Washington University law school, has a political pedigree of her own. The Oklahoma native is a cousin of retiring Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., and niece of Democrat David Boren, the state’s former governor and senator.

At one point she worked for Rep. Bill Brewster, D-Okla. on Capitol Hill. Janna Ryan met Paul at the age of 31, when she was a tax attorney for PriceWaterhouseCooper.

Voters who see Paul Ryan on the campaign trail say they don’t know much about his wife, but they still have a favorable impression.

“She seems sweet and honest. I think she’s an attorney?” Tom Smith, a 67-year-old retired civil engineer from New Bern, N.C., told Politico. And Bob Tidwell, a preacher in Bedford, Ohio, told the news service, “I don’t know much about her, but I saw she stands behind him, and they’re one spirit. I think they’re a good couple.”