Akron Mayor Shammas Malik will soon add a new title – husband. He and his fiancée, Alice Duey, are tying the knot in October.
That means Duey will take on the role of a political spouse - an important, yet understudied position in American politics, said Cherie Strachan, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
"[They're] way more powerful and influential than then the amount of attention they've received warrants," Strachan said.
Duey works as a guardian ad litem, a court-appointed advocate for children in cases of abuse and neglect, at the Summit County Juvenile Court.
“I see a lot of the different possibilities and the different experiences that kids are going through, from a safety standpoint. It’s rattling, but it also drives me to be that much more motivated to help make as much of a difference as I can," Duey said.
Before that, she was a professional dancer for years, performing on cruises and at Disney World. Her time as a performer helped her realize her passion for working with children, Duey said.
“Seeing the way that the arts impacted kids and just totally brought them the biggest smiles and sort of this opportunity to just really be kids,” Duey said. “Things that, now, in this work, you know, it makes it matter that much more.”
Duey later studied child and family development at the University of Akron. In addition to her job at the juvenile court, she also teaches musical theater at Martell School of Dance in Akron’s Wallhaven neighborhood, the dance studio she grew up going to.
She met Malik through mutual friends last year, and they started dating while he was in the midst of his mayoral campaign, she said.
“It just came naturally, to be a part of events and outings and talking with people,” Duey said. “I have kind of an optimistic outlook on life, and so to, to be a part of all this, it never felt overwhelming or intimidating.”
The couple got engaged earlier this year in Paris. When she got back, Duey’s coworkers had decorated her desk with balloons and signs that said “Congratulations Mrs. Mayor.”
It’s an informal title, but historically, politicians’ spouses at all levels have played a significant role, Strachan at the University of Akron said.
From the presidential level on down, they’re expected to be the helpmate and support system for elected officials, she said.
They can also help shape public perception.
“If a male politician is seen as a little too rough around the edges… you know, LBJ has Ladybird to, to soften him out or kind of soften that appeal,” Strachan said.
Just like politicians, their spouses can be subject to public praise, as well as scrutiny.
Presidential First Ladies have been criticized if they didn’t want to embrace the role – or, if they’re perceived to be doing too much, Strachan said.
However, there is bound to be less pressure for a mayor’s spouse, she added.
“You’re also much more likely to see partners at the local level, pull back, maintain their own identity professionally, maintain their own career and activities professionally, and be much less criticized for it,” Strachan said.
Being in the local spotlight isn’t always easy either, said Joyce Sawyer, wife of the late Northeast Ohio politician Tom Sawyer.
“When he would introduce me, sometimes he would say, “And this is Joyce Sawyer, who has the hardest job in American politics,’” Sawyer recalled. “I mean, but a little bit of that, I think, was to make me feel good.”
Sawyer has significant experience as a politician’s spouse. Her husband served as mayor of Akron from 1984 to 1986, and then eight terms in Congress, as well as stints in the Ohio Statehouse and the state Board of Education. He passed away last year at the age of 77.
Sawyer quite literally wrote the book on being a political spouse. She wrote “Power Spousing: The Hardest Job in American Politics,” published in 2015.
She wanted to share some guidance about being married to someone in public service, Sawyer said.
“You have to try to maintain your own identity while making somebody else look good too, and keep getting along as a couple, as a married couple. I mean, a regular old married couple,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer attended events with her husband and gave him input whenever he asked. Her main responsibility, she said, was to be his biggest supporter.
“It's to be their partner in every way ... in political way and domestic way, personal way. It's to be there for them," she said. "And, you know, make them look as good as you can.”
Both Sawyer and Strachan theorize it’s harder to be a politician’s spouse nowadays.
Social media might make it harder to maintain privacy, and the rise in political violence across the country poses new concerns.
“Even when I was kind of worried when people were following us in parades because they didn't agree with [Tom’s] votes on things, I didn't worry about them shooting us,” Sawyer said. “I worried about them, you know, throwing some disgusting thing at us, or hitting us, or throwing something at us. I was never afraid of getting shot. Well, now, I think everybody's afraid of getting shot.”
Sawyer added that she is grateful she kept working as a middle school teacher in the Akron area to help her maintain a separate life from politics.
“I think the important thing is to, you know, maintain your own identity the most, the best way you can,” Sawyer said.
Alice Duey doesn’t think much of her personal life will change once she gets married to Shammas Malik. She loves working at the juvenile court and the dance studio.
In fact, as the mayor’s wife, she hopes she can draw on her own experiences working with kids to help families across the city.
“I want to really help, like I said, as much as I possibly can with the early childhood development … because it extends in so many ways,” Duey said. “In any ways I can be a part of that – a part of shaping that, a part of helping with ideas, and with bringing those different systems and areas of the community to their fullest potential, I want to be a part of that.”
Above all else, she said, she plans to remain Malik’s biggest cheerleader.
Malik and Duey will be married in Akron on Oct. 5, 2024.
