Usha Chilukuri Vance loves her “meat and potatoes” husband, JD Vance. She told a captivated audience at the Republican National Convention how their vice presidential nominee adapted to her vegetarian diet and even learned to cook Indian food from his immigrant mother.
The image of her white, Christian husband cooking the spicy cuisine of his parents’ home state in southern India is atypical for leaders of a party whose membership is still largely white and Christian. Her presence at the RNC has sparked excitement on social media among some Indian-American conservatives, particularly Hindu Americans, though most Indian Americans identify as Democrats.
But for all that Vance shared about their mixed-race marriage in her speech last month in Milwaukee, which lasted just over four minutes, she made no mention of her Hindu upbringing or her personal faith and their interfaith relationship — biographical details that have exposed her to vitriol and hate online.
While some political analysts say her strong presence as a Hindu American still makes the community proud, others question whether the Republican Party is really ready for a second Hindu lady.
Usha Vance has chosen to remain silent about her religion in the run-up to the election and declined to discuss it with The Associated Press. She chose not to answer questions about whether she is a practicing Hindu or attends Mass with her Catholic husband, an adult convert to the faith, or what religious tradition their three children are being raised in.
Raised in San Diego by immigrant parents, both professors, in a Hindu household, Usha Vance confirmed that one of their children had an Indian name, and that she and J.D. Vance were married “in an Indian-American marriage.” The couple met while they were students at Yale Law School.
According to Dheepa Sundaram, a professor of Hindu studies at the University of Denver, her Hindu background could appeal to some South Asian voters, which could add value in key states with larger South Asian communities like Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. Sundaram says that while some Indian and Hindu conservatives might be eager to embrace Usha Vance, that doesn’t appear to be part of the party’s public strategy.
“For me, her Hindu identity is more of a liability than an asset,” she said. “It also feels like the campaign wants to have it both ways: Usha may be Hindu, which is great, but we don’t want to talk about it.”
Sundaram said Vance would particularly appeal to Hindu Americans who support the policies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose leadership Hindu nationalism has surged.
There are deep divisions within some Indian American communities over issues such as taxes, education, relations with India and legislation against caste discrimination, which has gained momentum in Seattle and California. Caste is a division of people based on birth or ancestry, and calls to ban all discrimination based on caste are growing in the United States.
According to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023, about 7 in 10 Indian Americans identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while about 3 in 10 identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. AAPI Data/AP-NORC surveys conducted earlier this year found that fewer than 1 in 10 South Asian Americans trust the Republican Party more than Democrats on key issues like abortion, gun policy and climate change, while about half or more trust the Democratic Party more than Republicans.
Still, Usha Vance, “a second lady who looks like us and talks like us,” could help capture the attention of a group of voters that Republicans have struggled to reach, said Ohio state Sen. Niraj Antani, a Republican and Hindu-American who is the youngest member of the state Senate.
“If Republicans don’t reach out to minority groups, we will lose the election.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, a 39-year-old biotech entrepreneur who ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and is now backing the Trump-Vance duo, has put his Hindu faith at the heart of his campaign. He has said Hindu teachings have much in common with Judeo-Christian values. He declined to comment on Vance’s religious background.
Usha Vance’s silence about her religion and Ramaswamy’s primary defeat could indicate that being anything other than Christian in the Republican Party may still be a problem for some of the base, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and executive director of AAPI Data.
“Since the convention, we’ve seen more exclusive elements within the Republican Party speak out against Usha and J.D. Vance,” Ramakrishnan said. “That suggests, I think, that there’s a political price to pay for being open about your religious identity that’s not Christian. There’s a long way to go.”
Antani, a Hindu candidate who has won multiple races in Ohio in a largely Christian and deeply conservative state, said that “racism comes from racists, not Republicans.” Antani, who paid tribute to Usha Vance by speaking about her Indian heritage at the RNC, said Ramaswamy didn’t lose because he is Hindu, but because he wasn’t as well-known as the other candidates.
Vance was baptized and converted to Catholicism in 2019, and says he and his family now consider the church their home. The campaign did not respond to questions about the three children’s baptisms. He has also spoken about how his wife helped him find his Catholic faith after a roller-coaster spiritual journey as he was raised Protestant and became an atheist in college.
Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said the fact that Usha Vance inspired her husband in his religious journey to become Catholic is “as Hindu as it gets.”
“Hinduism is about finding your own path and getting in touch with your own spirituality,” she said, adding that the definition of a “practicing Hindu” ranges from someone who goes to the temple and performs rituals to someone who is a cultural Hindu who observes festivals like Diwali, or simply engages in a spiritual practice like meditation.
Usha Vance is an example of the positive contributions made by Hindu Americans, and her interfaith marriage and ability to listen to different points of view reflect Hindu teachings, she said.
“Hindu Americans assimilate, but they also retain what inspired them in their tradition and culture,” Shukla said. “Our pluralistic background allows us to get along well with different people without compromising our identity. Hindu culture is very comfortable with differences of opinion.”
Shukla said those turning to the Republican Party are reacting to anti-Hindu prejudice against Hindu Democrats that is not suppressed by their own party.
“There is this perception that the Democratic Party does not care about the welfare of Hindu Americans or is tone deaf to the concerns of the community,” she said, referring to legislation that included caste as a category in anti-discrimination laws, which was proposed and passed in Seattle. Similar legislation was rejected by Gov. Gavin Newsom in California.
But Ramakrishnan is not sure that Indian-Americans feel welcome in the Republican Party, even if they may agree with conservatives on some issues.
“One of the reasons Indian Americans consistently support Democrats is the rise of Christian conservatism and nationalism,” he said. “That makes them less likely to vote Republican or identify as Republican.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from AP’s collaboration with The Conversation U.S., with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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