Meet Usha Vance – The Lawyer And Former Registered Democrat Who Just Became The US’ ‘Second Lady’
Usha Vance will be a name you’ll hear a lot of in the coming weeks after her husband, JD Vance, was chosen as the 47th president Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
Ahead of the Trump and Vance victory on Tuesday night, Usha quit her job as a lawyer earlier this year and introduced him at the Republican Convention in July, describing him as a ‘meat and potatoes’ man, a ‘tough Marine’ who loves ‘playing with puppies and watching the movie Babe’ and a ‘working-class guy’.
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From her political views to her studies, here’s what you need to know about the ‘Second Lady’ of the US:
Who is Usha Vance?
Usha is a 38-year-old Yale law graduate who grew up in San Diego by immigrant parents who had moved to the US from India in the 1970s. According to JD Vance’s campaign, Usha’s mother is a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego, while her father is an engineer.
‘That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry is a testament to this great country,’ Usha has said. ‘It is also a testament to JD.’
Discussing her religion in a June interview with Fox News, she said: ‘My parents are Hindu and that is one of the things that made them such good parents, that made them really good people. And so I have seen the power of that.’
Is Usha Vance a Democrat?
According to The Times, Usha was a registered Democrat until 2014. However, in 2021, Federal Election Commission records reveal that she donated to Blake Masters, a conservative Senate candidate in Arizona.
In a June interview on Fox & Friends, Usha discussed the possibility of taking on a public political role and the possibility of becoming the Second Lady.
‘I don't know that anyone is ever ready for that kind of scrutiny,’ she said. ‘I'm not raring to change anything about our lives are right now, but I believe in JD and I really love him, so we'll just sort of see what happens.’
What did Usha Vance study at university?
Usha studied for an undergraduate degree at Yale University and a master of philosophy at the University of Cambridge through the Gates Cambridge scholarship.
She later went to Yale Law School, which is where she met her now husband. After law school she worked as a clerk for Justice Brett Kavanaugh – who is now on the Supreme Court – and then a year as a law clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.
In his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, the new VP said that he and his wife met through a class assignment, where he soon ‘fell hard’ for his wife. ‘In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha's presence made me feel at home,’ he wrote.
The Vances graduated in 2013 and married in 2014.
Is Usha Vance a mother?
Yes, she and JD have three children together: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.
The Vances currently reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Speaking about his wife on the Megyn Kelly Show podcast in 2020, JD said that he benefits from having a ‘powerful female voice’ on his shoulder.
‘Usha definitely brings me back to earth a little bit, and if I maybe get a little bit too cocky or a little too proud, I just remind myself that she is way more accomplished than I am,’ he noted.
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