Jean Spencer Ashbrook
Emily Jean Spencer Ashbrook is a former American politician. She is the widow of Congressman John M. Ashbrook, Republican of Ohio. She is a former Member of Congress, having completed her late husband's final term of office, also as a Republican.Biography
Ashbrook was born Emily Jean Spencer on September 21, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended Central School in Newark, Ohio, and graduated from Newark High School in 1952. She went on to graduate with a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, in 1956.
She married John Ashbrook in 1974. After her husband's death on April 24, 1982, she won the special election for the seat in Congress he had occupied; it is relatively common in American politics of the last several decades for widows to succeed their late husbands in office if only to complete their husbands' terms. She served for the remainder of the 97th Congress and represented Ohio's 17th congressional district from June 29, 1982 to January 3, 1983.
During her term, her only ambition was "to carry on John's conservative philosophy." She was a supporter of the Reagan administration and served on the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. She did speak out for her views including introducing a bill that would have denied federal law enforcement jurisdiction to implement gun control ordinances; a bill to prescribe mandatory minimum sentences for federal felonies against senior citizens; supported the Enterprise Zone Tax Act of 1982; and backed a bill to educate citizens on the dangers of communism and promote democracy abroad.
She currently resides in Newark, Ohio.
