While Grechen Shirley has touted Thursday's opinion as a \"game changer,\" it is not clear whether it has set an entirely new precedent, as the FEC made a similar decision over two decades ago.

\"The Commission has previously considered the permissibility of using campaign funds to pay for certain childcare expenses in more limited circumstances,\" the opinion read, referring to a 1995 decision that granted a male candidate permission to use campaign funds for \"occasional childcare\" expenses.

\"The fact that you seek to use campaign funds to pay for more than the 'occasional' childcare expenses approved of in Advisory Opinion 1995-42 (McCrery) does not change the relevant question, which is whether such expenses would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or officeholder duties,\" the opinion stated.

Regardless, Grechen Shirley hopes her victory will encourage many more women to run for office, especially those for whom childcare is a financial barrier to entry.

\"I wouldn't be able to do this,\" she said of her own campaign.

Even with her babysitter's fee covered (around $440 per week to watch her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old-daughter), Grechen Shirley said it's \"an interesting juggling act\" being both a candidate and a mom.

\"I'll run home from events and do bath time and dinner and get them to bed, and then run back out to events,\" she said.

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