US Elections 2024: Spotlight on Usha Chilkuri Vance, Indian-American wife of new VP-elect

JD Vance and his wife Usha attend an election night event in Florida on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

In July, Indian-American lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance shot into the national spotlight after her husband, JD Vance, was selected by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as his running mate.

With the Trump-Vance victory in US Elections 2024 on Wednesday, Usha, 38, is set to become America's Second Lady - the first Indian-American to hold the role.

Usha stood alongside Vance, 39, the Ohio Senator, when Trump made his acceptance speech after securing enough votes to re-enter the White House.

According to news agency PTI, in 2020, speaking about his wife on 'The Megyn Kelly Show' podcast, Vance said, "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. People don't realise just how brilliant she is."

The daughter of Indian immigrants - her parents' ancestral village is Vadluru in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh - Usha grew up in a suburb of San Diego. According to her friends and media reports, Usha was a bright student and avid reader, and was known for her leadership qualities.

A Gates Scholar, Usha's distinguished career spans Cambridge and Yale, followed by clerkships with several Supreme Court justices. Her most recent position was as a civil litigation attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, reported PTI.

Usha and Vance met at Yale Law School, where they were both studying, and later married in 2014 in Kentucky. The ceremony was blessed by a Hindu priest at a separate event, as reported by The New York Times.

The Vances have three children: sons Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter, Mirabel.

After Vance was named Trump's running mate, Usha's Hindu roots became a topic of public interest. Vance has repeatedly noted that while his wife is not a Christian, she has been "very supportive" of his deepening faith.

Asked about the challenges of an interfaith marriage, Usha once said, "There are a lot of things that we just agree on, especially when it comes to family life and how to raise our kids. And so I think the answer really is, we just talk a lot."

According to PTI, Usha, in a joint interview with her husband in June, admitted that she is "reluctant to gain greater public exposure," but also expressed that the couple is open to seeing what happens in their lives moving forward.

Life came full circle when Trump, in an event in Palm Beach, Florida, after the US Elections 2024 results, pointed to the couple and said, "I want to be the first one to congratulate, now I can say Vice President-elect JD Vance. And his remarkable and beautiful wife, Usha Vance."

(With PTI inputs)