Trump-backed JD Vance with Indian connection wins Ohio Primary for US Senate

JD Vance
Republican Senate candidate JD Vance speaks at a rally at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Delaware, Ohio, where former President Donald Trump is expected to speak later in the day to endorse Republican candidates ahead of the Ohio primary on May 3. (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana)

OHIO: JD Vance, a former US President Donald Trump-backed candidate, and who has an Indian connection, won the Republican Ohio primary elections for US Senate.

Indian origin, Usha Chilukuri Vance, is the wife of JD Vance. Currently, Chilukuri is a litigator in the San Francisco and Washington DC offices of Munger, Tolles & Olson, a law firm. Her practice focuses on complex civil litigation and appeals in a wide variety of sectors, including higher education, local government, entertainment, and technology.

JD Vance emerged victorious in the Ohio GOP (Republican National Committee) Senate Primary and is set to face Democrat Tim Ryan, who won Ohio’s open Senate seat nominations.

The couple met while they were both law students at Yale. Chilukuri has been married to author and politician JD Vance since 2014. Indian-origin Chilukuri lives with her husband and three children in Cincinnati, Ohio. The couple is raising their three children in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Their first son, Ewan Blaine, was born in 2017. Vance does not appear to have shared his second son’s name publicly, although he does have a family photo, including the two boys on his Senate campaign website.

Chilukuri and Vance welcomed their third child in December 2021. Vance shared on social media, “We were blessed with an early Christmas present this year. Everyone, please meet Mirabel Rose Vance, our first girl. Mama and baby both doing great, and we’re feeling very grateful this Christmas season.”

Chilukuri listed San Diego, California, as her hometown on her Facebook page. She attended Mt. Carmel High School, as per her LinkedIn account.

While at Yale, she participated in the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.

She received her BA degree in history from Yale University in 2007 and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in 2009, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Before entering law school, Vance taught American history as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.

She then returned to Yale to receive her law degree from Yale Law School, where she was executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. She was admitted to the DC Bar in May 2019, according to the organization’s public records show. According to the Supreme Court Of Ohio Attorney Directory, she has been licensed in Ohio since May 2019.

Chilukuri has clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court 2017 to 2018. She also clerked in 2014-2015 for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

She also clerked in 2013-2014 for Judge Amul Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Chilukuri has served on the board of the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association and as secretary of the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

She held several speaking engagements as well including being a panellist at U.S. Supreme Court Update, Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s 46th Annual Federal Practice Seminar, 2021. (ANI)