Like his father, a devout Christian who served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church, Harsh makes faith a central part of his life.

Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV has granted just one interview since his wife began running for California governor, a talk with More magazine in which he discussed the fact that he showed up late on their first date.

“She was really not happy,” he told the reporter.

As Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman blankets the airwaves with her promises to forge a better state for California families, her own family is staying behind the scenes.

Her husband and two children avoid the bright lights of the campaign trail, shy away from public events and decline media interviews.

While Whitman climbed the ranks at major companies and took the helm as chief executive of eBay, her husband quietly built a reputation as a first-class neurosurgeon…

While Whitman, 54, hailed from a line of wealthy Bostonians and grew up in Cold Spring Harbor on the north shore of Long Island, her 57-year old husband has Southern roots.

Harsh and his two brothers grew up in Birmingham and on the family farm. He followed in the footsteps of his father, an accomplished neurosurgeon who chaired the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

Like his father, a devout Christian who served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church, Harsh makes faith a central part of his life. He and Whitman regularly attend a Presbyterian church in Menlo Park, Whitman’s campaign said.