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Meet Republican VP nominee JD Vance’s wife, Usha Chilukuri

Chilukuri Vance, who has been married to the nominee for over a decade, was born in California, and grew up in San Diego.

Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance, with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance and two of their three children. / (JD Vance for Senate photo)

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Ending weeks of speculation, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump July 15 afternoon announced his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, whose wife is is attorney Usha Chilukuri.

Trump made the announcement on the opening day of the Republican National Convention being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.

Chilukuri Vance, who has been married to the nominee for over a decade, was born in California, and grew up in San Diego. She is a litigator in the San Francisco and Washington, D.C., offices of Munger, Tolles & Olson. She focuses on complex civil litigation and appeals in a wide variety of sectors, including higher education, local government, entertainment, and technology, including semiconductors. 

American Lawyer Magazine describes Munger, Tolles & Olson describes the firm as “radically progressive” firm with a “woke” culture that is family friendly. Interestingly, Chilukuri’s firm profile was taken down shortly after Trump made his announcement.

Vance returned to the firm after clerking for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. She also clerked for  Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, when he was of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Chilukuri Vance has also clerked for the controversial Judge Amul Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. She received her JD from Yale, where she served as the executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. 

While in law school, Chilukuri Vance participated in the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, all progressive organizations. She was a registered Democrat until 2014, when she married Vance. 

The pair met in law school. They had two wedding ceremonies, one at which they  were blessed by a Hindu priest. They have have three children: two sons, Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter named Mirabel, and live in Cincinatti, Ohio.

Vance has frequently praised his wife for being the voice of reason for his career, as well as their family. “I’m one of those guys who really benefits from having sort of a powerful female voice over his left shoulder saying, ‘Don’t do that, do that,’” he told Megyn Kelly in a 2020 interview on her podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show.

In an interview on Fox and Friends last month, the couple described their religious faith. Usha is Hindu, while Vance was raised Baptist. “I grew up in a religious household. My parents were Hindu and that was one of the things that made my parents such good parents. And I know the power of faith in my own life,” she said. 

“There are a lot of things we just agree on especially when it comes to our children,” said Chilukuri Vance, addressing a question on the challenges of raising interfaith kids. “We just talk a lot,” she said.
 

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