State Rep. Takes Her Newborn Daughter to Work at the Ohio Statehouse

State Rep. Christina Hagan didn’t let the birth of her first child keep her from serving constituents in Ohio House District 50. She recently returned to work a month after her daughter, Josaphine Jane Nemeth, was born. Last week Rep. Hagan and little Josaphine were spotted around the Ohio statehouse in Columbus. From Dix Capital Bureau’s Marc Kovac:

“She will likely be with me on the House floor,” Hagan said. “And I don’t foresee having a lack of hands — I’m sure my colleagues would want to hold her and help if I had to give a floor speech. Then again, if she’s being good, I wouldn’t be opposed to giving a floor speech with her in the front pack.”

She added, “She’s an extension of me. She’s an extension of House District 50. I don’t foresee her getting in the way. I think she’s a pleasant addition to whatever I’m working on.”

Hagan, 27, was appointed to fill an open House seat at age 22 while she was still in college. She is the youngest female to have ever served in Ohio’s legislature and has since been re-elected twice, both times by comfortable margins. In 2012 Hagan married Adam Nemeth in a ceremony officiated by then House Speaker William Batchelder at the Statehouse rotunda, so it’s probably not surprising that she feels comfortable bringing her baby to work.

Hagan, who documented her pregnancy on Facebook with ultrasound pictures of her unborn baby and shots of her expanding figure, opted not to take an extended maternity leave. She said that as an elected official she represents people from all walks of life, including mothers and families. “There’s no better illustration of that than advocating for it by being true to your child and placing them as your first priority alongside the work that you’ve been elected to do.”

“I take very seriously my duty to do my job,” she said. “And even if it is unique how I have to go about it, we’ll make sure that none of my votes are missed on account of me having a child. I wouldn’t want her to be raised in an environment where accountability wasn’t central to what we believe in. Because I was trusted by the voters to do my job, I’ll continue to do it.”