Long before he entered the rough and tumble of politics, Herman Cain met a pretty girl from Atlanta, married her and raised two children.
Intensely private, Gloria Cain has largely shunned the political stage and shares a tight bond with her husband of 43 years, according to some who know the couple.
“There wouldn’t be a Herman Cain without Gloria,” said Matt Wylie, Cain’s campaign manager from his 2004 Senate race in Georgia. “She was always there for him, always there to keep things together.”
But there’s one area where husband and wife don’t always appear to see eye to eye: politics. While her husband votes Republican, Gloria Cain has voted in Democratic primaries and runoffs numerous times since 2000 — including the 2008 presidential primary that Barack Obama won with 66 percent of the vote, according to local voting records.
In 2004, Gloria Cain voted in the March Democratic primary for president, and then the Republican primary in July when her husband was on the Georgia ballot for U.S. Senate.
Voters are naturally curious about the spouses of candidates, experts say, because of what they reveal about their mates. If elected, a candidate’s spouse also has the chance to spotlight an array of social and political causes.
“We always say that people look at first ladies as indicators of the character of their spouse,” said Myra Gutin, a Rider University professor of communications and an authority on the topic of American first ladies.
Gloria Cain, 65, appeared alongside her husband when he announced his candidacy for president at Centennial Olympic Park in May. But she has been largely absent since.
Allegations of sexual harassment against Cain while he served as a Washington lobbyist in the 1990s has heightened interest in Gloria Cain and what she has to say about her husband. Herman Cain has denied that he harassed anyone.
Earlier this week, he said that voters would “meet my wife publicly in an exclusive interview that we are currently planning and anticipating.” On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Gloria Cain was “in talks” to appear on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” tonight; yet a producer for Van Susteren’s show said Thursday it had not scheduled an interview with Gloria Cain.
“My wife has been an absolute gem,” Cain told ABC News on Tuesday. “She and I happened to watch the breaking of this story last night together. It disturbed her about the exaggerations and innuendos far beyond what actually occurred. ... She has been 200 percent supportive of me for 43 years.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution began researching a general biographical article about Gloria Cain more than two weeks ago, long before any stories emerged about accusations of sexual harassment against her husband. The newspaper requested an interview with Gloria Cain, hoping to learn more about her background and what issues the potential next first lady of the United States finds important.
Cain’s campaign turned down the request and did not respond to questions about Gloria Cain’s voting record. In fact, Gloria Cain is not known to have ever spoken to the press.
“She is an intensely private person,” said Wylie, the 2004 campaign manager.
Most of what is known about the mother of two and grandmother of three comes from “This Is Herman Cain!” his autobiographical book released last month. In a four-page chapter simply titled “Gloria,” Cain acknowledges that his wife isn’t the standard issue spouse of a presidential candidate.
“Some people have certain expectations concerning the traditional politician’s wife, though, and I’m often asked: ‘Where is your wife? Why isn’t she campaigning with you?’ ‘She is at home,’ I answer,” Cain writes in the book. “And Gloria will tell them that she’s not running but she supports me 100 percent. That’s all I need.
“We have shared mutual advice and support on key decisions and destination points for more than 43 years now, and the love we share is priceless.”
Compassionate, nurturing
That love story began in the mid-1960s. Cain recounts seeing her for the first time standing on a street corner in Atlanta, where he was a Morehouse sophomore and she was about to begin her freshman year at Morris Brown College.
“I was first attracted by her looks,” Cain writes. “And then I figured out she was also smart.”
In the book, Gloria Cain comes across as a compassionate, nurturing spouse. Herman Cain writes she was constantly by his side as he battled Stage 4 colon and liver cancer in 2006. And Wiley witnessed her powerful presence first-hand during the 2004 Senate campaign.
In 2004, Gloria Cain made a few appearances, Wylie recalled, but otherwise stayed well behind the scenes. She’s far from an inexperienced liability, and that makes her Herman Cain’s most potent secret weapon, Wylie said.
“A campaign is a chaotic lifestyle,” he said. “Gloria really kept everything together so Herman could really focus on getting out and running his campaign.”
Catherine Davis says Gloria Cain was by her husband’s side in 2002 when he hosted a political fundraiser at Eagles Landing, where the couple lives.
Davis, an African-American Republican who ran unsuccessfully several times for the House of Representatives from the 4th Congressional District, remembers crossing paths with Gloria Cain occasionally along the campaign trail in 2004.
“It was mostly limited to our grandchildren and us both wanting to be a viable instrument in making sure we were leaving them a true legacy, personally, socially and politically,” Davis recalled about her conversations with Gloria Cain.
“After that, the next time I saw her was on Election Night in 2004, at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, where Herman held his election party. Again, we talked about grandchildren and also about how she was holding up.
“We laughed about being able to sleep in,” Davis concluded. “I think she was extremely glad we were at the end of the campaign, as opposed to the beginning.”
Like her husband, Gloria Cain belongs to Antioch Baptist Church in Atlanta, and she has engaged in some nonprofit work over the years.
She was one of the original board members of Partnerships In Aging, founded in 1996 in Omaha, Neb., where Herman Cain was CEO of Godfathers Pizza.
“It’s a nonprofit that works to develop programs and services for older adults in a five-county area,” said Karen Kelly, the current PIA coordinator. “We look for gaps in services, find funding and serve as a community resource.”
In 2000, the couple returned to Georgia, where they now live in a gated community in McDonough. Public voter records show that Herman Cain chose to vote the Republican ballot in every primary and primary runoff election since 2000. His wife voted in the general election that year, which does not show a party preference.
In Georgia, voters can choose to vote a Republican or Democratic ballot in primaries without declaring an allegiance to one party. The voting histories are public records.
In 2002, Gloria Cain voted in the GOP general primary and runoff. In 2004, she voted in the Democratic presidential primary and the GOP primary for state offices when her husband ran for Senate.
In a three-man battle for the party’s Senate nomination, Johnny Isakson won with 53 percent of the vote. Herman Cain finished second with 26 percent.
In 2006, Gloria Cain voted in the Democratic general primary and the Democratic runoff, a year featuring contested statewide offices for governor, lieutenant governor and schools superintendent.
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