When Paul Ryan took the stage Saturday in Norfolk, Va. after Mitt Romney announced the Wisconsin congressman as his running mate, one of the first things he did was introduce his wife and three towheaded children.
“I want you to meet my family. My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our sons, Charlie and Sam,” Ryan said. “I am surrounded by the people I love, and I have been asked by Gov. Romney to serve the country that I love.”
Wearing a sleek brown dress and open-toe pumps, Janna, 43, beamed as she waved to the crowd. For Janna, the limelight is certainly a new phenomenon as she has largely stayed under the radar as a stay-at-home wife and mother — but it is something that she will soon be accustomed to as she hits the campaign trail for the Romney-Ryan ticket.
The Madill, Okla. native attended Wellesley College just outside of Boston, Mass. and later attended George Washington University in D.C. for law school.
She worked as an aide for Democratic Rep. Bill Brewster of Oklahoma before going on to work as tax attorney for the prestigious PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Arlington, Va., according to Time.
Janna is first cousins with Democratic Rep. Dan Boren, also of her native Oklahoma. After Saturday’s big VP announcement, Boren issued a statement:
“Andrea and I are excited for Paul and Janna. Janna and I grew up together and I couldn’t be more proud of my cousin. Like my late mother after whom she is named, Janna is a wonderful parent to their children and will be Paul’s strongest supporter on the campaign trail.”
During her time in the Washington area, Janna met Paul in 1999, as he was finishing up his first term as a congressman.
The couple married in December 2000, and Janna soon relocated from D.C. to Paul’s hometown of Janesville, Wisc., to raise a family.
Since then, Janna has focused on being a mother rather than her law career or politics. Janna is a devout Catholic who regularly attends mass at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, according to the Washington Post.
The owner of the Italian House in Janesville where the family can be spotted when Paul is in town raved about the potential second-lady of the United States to Politico:
“She’s very soft spoken, elegant, and lady-like. Very family-oriented. Always with her kids, always here picking up food for her family,” Edmund Halabi said of Janna.
“Just warm, easygoing, not upfront in the public arena. You can see her on the TV, she really stays back and doesn’t attract much attention to herself. Just an amazing lady-like figure.”