Who is JD Vance, Trump’s pick for VP?

Sen. JD Vance, the junior senator from Ohio, has come a long way in a short amount of time since he published his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” months before Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. 

On Monday, Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Vance is his running mate. 

Vance, 39, won election to the U.S. Senate in 2022, and has only been a senator for a year and a half. Here’s what to know about him. 

Vance’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” catapulted him to fame 

Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became immensely popular in 2016, telling Vance’s personal story against the backdrop of the struggles of Appalachia and Rust Belt America. 

A key message in Vance’s book was that only by their own willpower can Americans in economically and socially struggling regions improve their own lives. But the book also gave Americans in coastal and more affluent areas a window into the lives of the people who made up the backbone of Trump’s support in 2016. When Trump won, Vance’s book became a bible of sorts for leaders and the media to better understand people who voted for Trump, and how a real estate mogul from New York could appeal to struggling Rust Belt Americans. 

“J.D.’s book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social as he announced Vance as his running mate. “J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”

Vance said he would not have certified 2020 election if he were vice president

Vance has said he would have refused to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2020, if he were in Pence’s position.

“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others that we needed to have multiple slates of electors,” he told ABC News in February, “and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there. That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020. I think that’s what we should have done.”

In 2020, Trump pressured Pence, who presided over the joint session of Congress that affirmed the results of the presidential election, to refuse to certify the electoral votes that showed Joe Biden had won. Pence did not agree to do so, concluding that his role was ceremonial, and he ultimately announced that Mr. Biden had won — after an attack on the Capitol that day. Since then, Trump has continued to publicly claim that Pence “did have the right to change the outcome.” 

On the issues

Abortion

Although Vance said in 2022 that he’d back a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks, he indicated that he also supports Trump on leaving the question to the states. 

“I am pro-life. I want to save as many babies as possible,” he told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” in May. “And sure, I think it’s totally reasonable to say that late-term abortions should not happen with reasonable exceptions. But I think Trump’s approach here is trying to settle a very tough issue and actually empower the American people to decide it for themselves.”

Ukraine

Vance opposes U.S. aid for Ukraine, arguing in a New York Times op-ed in April that the administration lacks a plan for Ukraine’s success. He wrote that Ukraine lacks the manpower and the firepower to fend off Russia and also that the U.S. does not have the manufacturing capacity to make up the difference. He believes that Ukraine and its western allies must give up the goal of a return to Ukraine’s boundaries in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to move forward. The U.S. and European allies support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop his expansionism at Ukraine.

Train and rail safety

Vance has been a leading voice on train safety after the toxic train disaster that spawned health and environmental concerns for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio. He is part of a bipartisan group of six senators who introduced rail safety legislation in March 2023 that aims to prevent future derailments. The measure has not passed in the Senate even though it has six GOP co-sponsors and the support of six Democratic lawmakers.

Vance had a challenging childhood 

Born James Donald Bowman in August 1984 in Middletown, Ohio, Vance was 6 years old when his biological father gave him up for adoption to his stepfather. His name changed from James Donald Bowman to James David Vance.

Vance’s childhood was tumultuous. Not only did his father leave the family, but his mother struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol, which Vance documented in his book. Vance spent much of his time growing up with his grandparents in Kentucky. His grandmother, a “blue dog” Democrat who owned 19 handguns, according to Vance’s Senate biography, was a big influence on his life. 

After graduating from high school, Vance enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He holds a law degree from Yale 

As Vance discussed at length in his book, adapting to the social expectations and nuances of the elite culture at Yale University was initially a challenge for him. Vance graduated with a law degree from Yale in 2013. 

In the Senate

Vance serves on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; the Commerce Science and Transportation Committee, Joint Economic Committee and the Special Committee on Aging.

Vance’s wife, Usha, is an accomplished lawyer

Vance met his Indian-American wife, Usha Chilukuri, at Yale. They married in 2014. She is a litigator and clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when Kavanaugh was a federal judge. Vance and Chilukuri have three young children. 

Hunter Woodall and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.