Jean Spencer Ashbrook

Emily Jean Ashbrook (née Spencer; born September 21, 1934) is a former American politician. She is the widow of Congressman John M. Ashbrook, a Republican from Ohio. She then 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 served for the remainder of the 97th Congress and represented Ohio's 17th congressional district from June 29, 1982 to January 3, 1983.

Her election brought the total number of women appointed to the House of Representatives to 20 for the first time.

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.