Spouses

Harold Ford's Polished Wife

Emily Ford says she's without baggage.

A run for political office means putting your spouse's life under a microscope, but that doesn't seem to worry Emily Ford, whose husband Harold Ford Jr. is considering a bid for New York Senate. Before The New York Times scored an interview with her, she was best known from an ad levied against her then-boyfriend during his failed Tennessee Senate campaign in 2006, an ad that played on the racist fear of black men dating white women. Contrary to popular belief, Emily is not an Upper East Side heiress, rather, she grew up in Florida, graduating from the University of Miami and working first as a publicist for designer Nina Ricci and now celebrity stylist on behalf of designer Carolina Herrera. She's down to earth about the whole political process, saying she understands that people will "say things that are untrue and harsh" about her during the campaign. One thing's for certain though--she has her husband's ear. Her stories about her gay step-uncle who died of AIDS, and a gay aunt in committed loving relationships helped change Ford's views on gay marriage.