J.D. Vance Has Been Chosen as Trump's VP Pick, and His Wife Usha Helped Him Get There

Donald Trump has been in the news for various reasons throughout the summer of 2024, from calling on Joe Biden to take a cognitive test with him to being targeted in an alleged assassination attempt. In a more normal piece of political news, Trump has also announced his running mate in the 2024 presidential election — none other than Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

Following the news that J.D. will be Trump's running mate, the Senator's personal life has been thrust into the spotlight. Amid questions about his real name, his parents, and more, many people wanted to learn more about Vance's wife and how she's influenced the course of his career.

J.D.'s wife Usha is an Indian-American who was born and raised near San Diego. According to The New York Times, she has tended to stay out of the public eye as much as possible and has only participated in key events on her husband's campaign. Behind the scenes, though, she's apparently quite influential. Usha has played a key role in shaping J.D.'s career, as he's gone from resisting Donald Trump to wholeheartedly embracing him.

Until 2014, though, Usha was registered as a Democrat. She also clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and subsequently worked at a law firm in California that describes its culture as "radically progressive." In spite of her association with a number of progressive values, Usha has seemed to wholeheartedly support her husband's far-right shift.

“The J.D. that I met back when we were in law school is the J.D. that I’m sitting next to right now,” she said during an interview with Newsmax. According to interviews in The New York Times, Usha is not someone who has prioritized politics as a central focus in her life. Vikram Rao, a close family friend, said that “this is not someone who wakes up every day and thinks, ‘Did my team win or lose?’”

J.D. and his wife have three children. His children have largely stayed out of the public eye, and he doesn't discuss them a great deal in public. Like his relationship with Usha, it seems J.D.'s children are largely allowed to live more private lives than their father chooses to. Now that he's a senator, though, it's possible that could change.

She may not have the same political aspirations as her husband, but her law career is incredibly promising, and it wouldn't be shocking to find her in a position of power someday. The New York Times made it clear that Usha has been setting herself up for success for decades. Now, it seems that she's helped J.D. do the same, even if it's meant shifting her opinion on certain political issues.