A snippet of video on Twitter suggests Liuba Grechen Shirley's kids had a pretty good time at Thursday's Federal Election Commission hearing.

Their mom, though, may just have had a better one: In a groundbreaking unanimous decision, the commissioners of the FEC ruled Grechen Shirley can use campaign funds to defray the costs of child care as she pursues her run for a New York congressional seat.

"The ruling came in just in time for Mother's Day, which is pretty incredible," the Long Island Democrat told reporters on a conference call following the hearing.

"I will now be the first woman to ever spend federal campaign dollars that I am raising on a babysitter. And I'm hoping that I'll be just the first," she added. "I'm hoping that this decision inspires thousands of women—and fathers, parents of young children—to run."

Grechen Shirley, a community activist, is the 36-year-old mother of two, Nicholas, two, and Mila, three. She says she now pays a sitter $22 an hour to watch the children during an approximately 20-hour work week.

If she wins, she'll become part a very small group of congresswomen who balance their public office with being moms to very young children. First, of course, the consultant would have to defeat both a Democratic primary opponent, DuWayne Gregory, who has objected to her FEC request, and incumbent Republican Representative Peter King.

Grechen Shirley says she thought hard about undertaking the race at all considering how young her kids are, but in the end, she had some A-list support for her push to use campaign cash to underwrite her child care.

In April Hillary Clinton's lawyers wrote a letter arguing in the candidate's favor. They noted that the child care expenses existed specifically as a result of the Long Islander's run for office; she had looked after them herself before launching a "rigorous campaign schedule."

And in May, 24 members of Congress—women and men—signed a letter backing Grechen Shirley's FEC request.

"Women and working parents face many barriers in running for public office, including meeting child care obligations during campaigns that require frequent travel and evening and weekend events," the lawmakers wrote. "As we work to build a political environment that is fair to candidates of all backgrounds, the commission has a role to play in fairly enforcing and administering federal campaign finance laws."