Usha Chilukuri Vance, an Indian-American attorney, has gained national attention following her husband, JD Vance, being selected as the running mate by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Usha, aged 38, could become the first Indian American second lady if Trump and Vance emerge victorious in the general elections on November 5, overcoming incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Accompanying her 39-year-old husband, Usha appeared on Monday when he accepted the nomination through an acclimation vote by delegates, and the couple greeted convention attendees with jubilation.
Usha, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was raised in a San Diego suburb. People who knew her during her childhood and teenage years described her as a "leader" and a "bookworm." In 2014, it was documented that she was a registered Democrat.
Usha, who graduated from Yale Law School, is a civil litigation lawyer at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. She served as a clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh during their tenures as US Court of Appeals judges for the DC Circuit.
Usha and Vance crossed paths at Yale Law School while pursuing their studies.
According to The New York Post, if elected, she would be the first Hindu spouse of a vice president and would follow second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a vice president.
The Vance couple tied the knot in Kentucky in 2014 and received blessings from a Hindu priest at another ceremony, as detailed in a New York Times profile.
Their family includes three children: sons named Ewan and Vivek and a daughter named Mirabel.
The Post reported that Usha was reluctant to gain greater public exposure in a “Fox & Friends” joint interview with her husband last month.
JD Vance’s successful 2022 Senate campaign was “an adventure,” she said, but “I’m not raring to change anything about our lives right now.” “But I believe in JD and I really love him, and so we’ll just sort of see what happens with our life — where we’re open,” she said in the interview.
Vance said that his wife “is not a Christian” but was “very supportive” of his deepening faith, the report added.
Asked about the challenges of an interfaith marriage, she said, “There are a lot of things that we just agree on, I think, especially when it comes to family life, how to raise our kids. And so I think the answer really is, we just talk a lot.” Prior to law school, she got a bachelor's degree in history from Yale and a master of philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge.
Usha has made only a few appearances at public events but has appeared on several talk shows.
On the floor of the Republican National Convention as part of the Ohio delegation, she was spotted with Vance on Monday.
Despite occasionally referencing his children over the years, Vance is known for keeping his children out of the spotlight.
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