Jeb Bush's wife, and former first lady of Florida, Columba Bush, is a woman who, for the most part, has preferred to stay out of the political spotlight, and for that reason, very few people know who she is or the strong influence she can have on the Hispanic vote.

A 1989 Miami Herald article once read that Columba "would trade 20 society galas for one juicy Spanish soap opera savored in the comfort of her South Dade County home." Nonetheless, now that her husband is considered a likely presidential candidate, it seems that she might start to engage American politics after all, and most specifically, Hispanic voters who, in recent times, have begun to vote more Republican than they have in the past.

Here are a few of facts about Columba Bush:

• Columba Bush (née Garnic Gallo) was born and raised in the city of Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico in 1962. Leon is approximately 250 miles northwest of Mexico City.
• She attended a Catholic school in Leon.
• Her father was a farmer from the poor rural town of Arperos, Guanajuato where clean water and electricity were not available.
• Her parents divorced when she was ten. Her mother was the victim of domestic violence, and Columba didn't maintain a relationship with her father after the divorce.
• She met Jeb Bush in 1971 and they married in 1974 at the Catholic Student Center of the University of Texas at Austin, Jeb's alma mater. Jeb Bush later converted to Catholicism.
• She is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The story of how Columba met Jeb has been often referred to as a modern-day Cinderella story. Jeb Bush was 17 years old, and Columba was 16 when they met. He was teaching English in Leon as part of an exchange program with his school, Phillips Academy. On one Sunday night, Columba who was with her older sister and her sister's boyfriend met Jeb Bush. Jeb was her sister's boyfriend's classmate. Four days later he asked her out on a date, and as Jeb Bush describes it, “I fell madly in love with her, literally love at first sight. Whatever I was doing beforehand, I vaguely remember. But my life got really organized after that."

Beatriz Parga, who wrote a biography on Columba Bush, "Columba Bush: La Cenicienta de la Casa Blanca," calls Columba a modern-day Cinderella. Columba, a Mexican girl from a humble town in rural Mexico marries a member of one of the most powerful political dynasties of the United States. Parga's description of her book says that Columba was a “silent, obedient child who lived in her own fantasy world in order to evade the problems that forced her to mature at a very young age." This refers to Columba's painful relationship with her father. Columba was once quoted as saying that her father “caused the most painful memories of my life and made the life of my mother hell." She also said that her father once broke her mother's fingers with a belt buckle. Columba is a strong advocate against domestic violence since she herself had such a tortured childhood.

A sign that Columba may be entering the political spotlight after all is the fact that she opened a Twitter and Instagram account last week. She's also been tweeting in Spanish. Columba has also appeared in a TV campaign advertisement in Spanish supporting her father-in-law, George H.W. Bush.

More Hispanic voters have been voting Republican in recent years, and this is a positive sign for many moderate Republicans. In last year's midterm elections, Republicans won more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in some states. Two Hispanic incumbent Republican governors also comfortably won reelection (Susana Martinez in New Mexico with 57 percent and Brian Sandoval in Nevada with 71 percent).

Should Jeb Bush run for president of the United States, Columba may have the opportunity to play a key role in the Hispanic community and get out the Hispanic Republican vote. She has the ability to influence many Hispanic voters who are traditionally social conservatives or moderates, but who nonetheless often vote for the Democratic party because the GOP has failed to actively reach out to this growing demographic until recent years. If Columba, who in the past has been press-shy and politically private, became a stronger advocate of her husband's politics, perhaps Jeb Bush could significantly increase his share of the Hispanic vote.

The former Florida governor is also one of a handful of Republicans who have proposed or talked in favor of immigration reforms that would actually appeal to Hispanic Americans, so having Columba by his side in the campaign trail could be very beneficial. If Jeb Bush becomes the next president of the United States, Columba Bush would make history and become the first Hispanic first lady of the United States and the second first lady born abroad.