Who is Usha Chilukuri? Meet Indian-origin wife of Trump's Vice Prez pick

Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of Republican Party's Vice-Presidential candidate JD Vance, is a US attorney known for her cultural background

Amid widespread speculation surrounding Indian-origin American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy potentially being selected by Donald Trump as the Vice-Presidential candidate, the former US President announced JD Vance as his running mate during the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday.

However, like Ramaswamy, Ohio Senator JD Vance also has an Indian connection. Vance is married to Usha Chilukuri, an Indian-origin US attorney who has been outspoken about her cultural background.

Who is Usha Chilukuri Vance?

Born to Indian immigrants and raised in San Diego suburb, California, Usha Chilukuri is a known figure in the US legal landscape. After earning a bachelor’s degree in History from Yale University, she pursued a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge.

 

During her time at Yale, Usha served as Managing Editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and later as the Executive Development Editor of The Yale Law Journal. Usha also met JD Vance for the first time at Yale Law School.

Later, during her time at Cambridge, she engaged with left-wing and liberal groups, and in 2014, she became a registered Democrat. She married Vance the same year. The couple has three children together.

In her professional journey, she clerked for Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Court. Currently, she serves as a litigator at a national firm.

Usha, the support behind Vance

It is said that Usha helped Vance organise his thoughts on the social decline in rural white America, which inspired his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. The memoir was adapted into a film directed by Ron Howard in 2020.

Usha also appeared with Vance during his campaign for the Ohio Senate seat. In a recent interview with Fox News, when asked about her reasons for supporting Vance, she said, “There are a few different reasons... One is that I grew up in a religious household. My parents are Hindu, and that was one of the things that made them such good parents, that makes them very good people. And so I think I’ve seen that... the power of that in my own life, and I knew that JD was searching for something. This just felt right for him.”

A clip of this part of her interview, which was recorded three weeks before Vance was chosen as the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential candidate, gained significant online traction in India as well. Experts believe Usha can be instrumental in aiding her husband in navigating US-India relations.