During the 2024 vice presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz, viewers noticed that J.D.’s wife, Usha, joined him on stage as he and Tim shook hands. She has become a consistent presence amid the current race to the White House — supporting her husband at various events, including at the Republican National Convention this past summer.
While addressing the large crowd at the RNC, Usha pointed out that her background “is very different from JD’s.”
“I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community, with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister,” Usha acknowledged, before adding, “That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country.”
Learn more about Usha, her marriage to J.D. and their children, below.
Who Is Usha Vance?
Usha Vance (née Chilukuri) was born in San Diego County, California, on January 6, 1986. Her family is part of the Telugu Brahmin community. They migrated to the United States in the 1980s from India, and Usha’s parents speak Telugu. They raised her in the upper-middle-class neighborhood Rancho Peñasquitos, San Diego.
While attending Yale Law School, Usha studied history and was an active member of various associations on campus, such as the Yale Law Journal as well as being a member of the Phi Beta Kappa sorority.
Upon graduating from college, Usha worked as a law clerk for several federal-level judges, including Brett Kavanaugh.
Usha reportedly voted in Democratic primaries in 2014, but voted in the Republican primaries in 2022 when her husband was a candidate.
When Did Usha and J.D. Vance Meet?
Usha and J.D. met while attending Yale. According to the Daily Beast, the couple’s professor Amy Chua encouraged them to get closer in their relationship. Usha and J.D. eventually got married in 2014 during a ceremony in Kentucky.
Does J.D. Vance Have Kids With Usha?
J.D. has spoken out about his family. During his speech at the July 2024 Republican National Convention, Donald Trump‘s running mate noted that his “most important American dream was becoming a good husband and a good dad” and that he “wanted to give [his] kids the things that [he] didn’t have when [he] was growing up.”
While directly addressing his kids, J.D. joked, “If you’re watching, Daddy loves you very much, but get your butts in bed, it’s 10 o’clock.”
Usha and J.D. share three children together: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance. The spouses welcomed Ewan in June 2017, followed by Vivek in February 2020 and Mirabel in December 2021.
