Described as “model-hot,” by the DC political blog Wonkette, Vertolli-Kirk is actually more GI Joe than Barbie.  A four-time marathon runner and one of the few women graduates of the US Naval Academy, Vertolli-Kirk was an active duty Naval Intelligence officer in February 1998, when she made the acquaintance of her husband-to-be.  “It was supposed to be my weekend off,” she explains, “but Saddam had just thrown out the weapons inspectors and we were preparing for a strike on Baghdad.”

Although the actual attack got called off within a few hours, Vertolli-Kirk was obligated to stay at the desk with the weekend reserve officer – “just in case.”

That Reserve Officer turned out to be a fellow named Mark Kirk – then counsel for the International Relations Committee.  Kirk wooed her with Washington staples: politics, law and world travel via CO-DELS.  “I thought he was going to be really boring,” Vertolli-Kirk remembers, “so I was surprised and impressed.”

A year and a half later they were engaged, and three weeks after that, Kirk announced he was running for Congress in Illinois.  “It turned my life upside down,” says Vertolli-Kirk.  “Instead of Modern Bride, I steeped myself in the Illinois Blue Book.  The political world was completely new to me.”

Vertolli-Kirk, who was raised in New Jersey and lived in DC until she finished her Naval obligations, quickly made the “radical move” to the Northern suburbs of Chicago to help then-fiancé Kirk on the campaign trail.

“It was exciting and terrifying,” Vertolli-Kirk says of the transition from military officer to Congressional Spouse.  “I imagined being a Congressperson – but never marrying one!”

After Kirk won the seat, Vertolli-Kirk agreed to live in her husband’s home district for a time.  After two years of tireless campaigning, she was ready to focus on her own dreams.  “Everyone wants you to be ‘Mrs. Congressman Kirk,’” says Vertolli-Kirk, who decided to keep her own name.  “It roils my sense of independence and identity.  I decided I needed to get back to becoming the person I wanted to be – and that meant earning my law degree and having work and a paycheck of my own.”

Accepted at Northwestern Law School (“one of the happiest days of my life”), Vertolli-Kirk was able to indulge her life-long interest in international feminist jurisprudence and women’s reproductive rights, not stereotypical areas of study for Republican spouses.

In fact, while her husband sits on the right, Vertolli-Kirk leans left.  “The role that government and religion plays in the exercise of women’s rights remains one of my primary intellectual interests,” she says.  “If the NRCC knew how different we were politically, they’d probably want to find him a new wife!”

Graduating from Northwestern last May, Vertolli-Kirk, now 32, moved back to Washington this winter, driving a “monster” rental moving truck across the country single-handedly.  Although she’ll miss Illinois, Vertolli-Kirk explains that the work she wants to pursue – national security – is only available in Washington.

Besides, she adds with a smile, “here, I’m one of 535 congressional spouses, so I can go grocery shopping in my sweats and no one looks twice at me.”