Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) went from being a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump to one of his most loyal supporters and an endorsement success story in a cycle where Republicans struggled across the country.

Despite his inexperience in politics, Vance has shot up the roster of Republicans who have a bright future in the party with Trump at the helm. Before he finishes his first term in the Senate, he could find himself working with Trump in the White House.

Age

J.D. Vance was born on Aug. 2, 1984. He is 39 years old.

Hometown

Vance currently lives in Cincinnati, according to his profile on X. He was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio, a city of more than 50,000 people located about 30 miles outside of Cincinnati. 

Education

Vance graduated from Middletown High School in 2003. After serving in the U.S. Marines for four years, he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from the Ohio State University in 2009 and graduated from Yale Law School in 2013.

State represented

Vance has represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate since 2023.

Religion

Vance became a baptized Catholic in 2019.

He “was raised Christian, but never had a super strong attachment to any denomination,” Vance said in an interview with the American Conservative.

“When I started law school in 2010, I would have called myself an atheist,” he said in an interview with the Coastal Courier. “When I graduated law school in 2013, I was exploring my faith again.”

“I became persuaded over time that Catholicism was true,” he said.

Net worth

Sources have estimated Vance’s net worth to be around $7 million. 

Family

Vance has been married to Usha Chilukuri Vance, his former classmate at Yale, since 2014. They have three children: Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel.

Occupation before Congress

Vance began his career as a venture capitalist at Mithril Capital, a San Francisco firm founded by billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel. He was later managing partner of Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which invests in startups outside of coastal cities, and started his own Ohio-based venture capital firm, Narya Capital, in 2019.

Books written

In 2016, Vance published Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, a bestselling autobiographical account of his experience growing up in Ohio to a family from eastern Kentucky. The book shot him to national fame.

Major policy positions

Vance takes a self-described “America First” position on foreign policy and spoke out in April against sending additional aid to Ukraine.

He lists solving the crisis at the southern border as one of his top priorities, and last year introduced a bill that would require visa recipients to pay between $5,000 and $15,000 before entering the U.S. — money they would get back upon leaving the U.S. in accordance with the terms of their visa.

Relationship with Trump

Vance was a critic of former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election, calling him “noxious” and “reprehensible” and describing himself as a “Never Trump guy.”

He has since said that he regrets his past comments.

“I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016 because I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said in a 2021 interview with Fox News.

Vance secured Trump’s endorsement in Ohio’s 2022 Republican Senate primary.

Has he run for president?

Vance has not run for president.

Comments on potential VP selection

Vance has said he would be Trump’s running mate if asked but wouldn’t lobby for the position.

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“I’m very interested in helping [Trump] out, whatever that looks like. So, if that means I’m helping out the people of Ohio with the Trump agenda in the Senate, that’s great. If he asks me to serve, I will certainly do it,” the senator said in an interview with Fox News.

“My attitude towards it is, if it comes to me, great, but it’s not something I’m going to lobby for. I don’t think that’s the right attitude to take towards it.”