Usha Vance Who is the woman suddenly in the spotlight?
She is a successful lawyer - and the wife of J. D. Vance. Now Usha Vance is in the spotlight, because her partner is the Republican candidate for Vice President of the USA.
When all eyes, TV cameras and smartphones turn to the party's newly announced vice presidential candidate on the first afternoon of the Republican Party Convention in Milwaukee, he is not walking into the hall alone: J. D. Vance is accompanied by his wife, Usha Vance.
Two days later, her big solo moment arrives. She gives a short speech in front of tens of thousands of spectators at the big party convention - introducing her husband, the new man at the side of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the race for the White House.
Young and camera-ready
The couple have already shown that they are young and camera-ready. Now it's all about the message - and Usha Vance paints the picture of an approachable husband. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with J.D.? He was then and now the most interesting person I knew, a working class guy who had overcome childhood traumas," said the 38-year-old lawyer. The senator is still the same man she met back then. Except for the beard, she jokes.
Partners - usually wives - are often used in election campaigns to demonstrate the human, empathetic side of candidates. Usha Vance fulfilled this role in Milwaukee in exemplary fashion. But who is the woman who is suddenly in the spotlight and could possibly soon become the Second Lady of the United States?
Top lawyer with Indian roots
The daughter of Indian immigrants grew up in the US state of California, her birth name is Chilukuri. She grew up in a religious household, her parents were Hindus, she says about her childhood. She met her future husband at the elite Yale University, where they were both studying law. The couple married in 2014 and now have three children.
According to the New York Times, she was registered as a Democrat at the time. After graduating, the lawyer worked as a clerk at the Supreme Court for Justice John Roberts. Later, Vance became a lawyer in a law firm that specializes in claims for damages and represents large companies.
The senator's wife has not necessarily been in the spotlight so far. In a joint interview with Fox News a few weeks ago, she said when asked whether she was ready to possibly become Second Lady of the USA: "I don't know if anyone is ever ready for that kind of scrutiny." But she loves her husband and that's why the couple is "open" to it. Usha Vance has now arrived in the middle of the heated US election campaign.
SDA
