‘Marilyn jokes that I should run for office’

Cathy Dobson/The Independent

When MP Marilyn Gladu was unable to attend a local pork producers event last fall, her new husband Paul Rampone had no trouble pinch hitting.

“I’ve listened to her speak enough – she handles crowds so well – and I just copied her format and did the speech,” said Rampone who married Gladu in 2022.

When the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 62 needed a speaker at the annual Robby Burns shindig, it was Rampone doing the honours while Gladu looked on and sang.

And when she hit the campaign trail in March, he took on sign distribution duties especially in the new, largely rural section of the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong riding.

“I drove all over Lambton County with about 50 of the really big signs,” he said as the sound of celebration began at Gladu’s watch party Monday.

Until meeting and marrying Gladu, Rampone’s political experience was limited to voting every election. But he always paid close attention to party platforms and carefully chose who he supported, he said.

“Even from a young age, I’d look at the candidates. I remember in Mississauga, I was the only one with a Preston Manning lawn sign.”

As election results rolled in and Rampone saw that Gladu would return to Ottawa, he reflected on what it’s like being married to a politician and the demands of public life.

“When I met Marilyn, I obviously knew who she was. And when we started dating and becoming serious about each other, I became more in tune to her political views and the way things work on The Hill,” said the retired electrical engineering technologist.

“I had always been a Conservative voter and lived in Michael Chong’s riding (Wellington-Halton Hills) before moving to Sarnia.”

Public life changes the most mundane activities, Rampone said. For instance, a shopping trip to Home Depot now takes twice as long if Gladu is with him.

“Everyone wants to talk to Marilyn,” he smiled.

“Ninety-five per cent of the people just want to shake her hand and tell her what a good job she’s doing, and offer their views on the issue of the day.

“We always have to schedule an extra half hour when we go anywhere.”

Public life also means attending dozens of events, big and small. Rampone said he likes to go.

“It’s great. When the pork producers asked for Marilyn to speak at their annual general meeting and she had to decline because she was in Ottawa, then they called back and asked if I’d speak instead and I said, absolutely, I’ll be there.

“Marilyn jokes that I should run for office,” he laughed.