Capitol Hill woman watches landlord accept GOP VP nomination: Only in D.C.

To the thousands of people watching Sen. J.D. Vance accept the GOP nomination for vice president last week, he was the Republican Ohioan of “Hillbilly Elegy” fame who evolved from a former “Never-Trumper” into a Trump loyalist to land with Donald Trump on the 2024 presidential ticket.

To Capitol Hill resident Ashley T., he was just her landlord.

Seeing the news flash that Trump had chosen Vance as his running mate, she could only laugh, she said.

“There is a lot of like, ‘Only in D.C.,’” said Ashley, who spoke on the condition that only her first name and last initial be used because of concerns about her family’s safety. “That was kind of the feeling: ‘Only on Capitol Hill.’”

She and her young daughter have been the Vances’ tenants since November, in a white-brick rowhouse that Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, purchased in 2014, back before either was in the spotlight. It’s yet another local connection for the vice-presidential pick, who last year also purchased a $1.6 million home in Del Ray, a liberal enclave in Alexandria, where residents have some mixed feelings about their new neighbor.

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But Vance, as a landlord, got no complaints from Ashley.

“I love this house. I love this block. I want to be here for a long time,” said Ashley, who’s lived in the Capitol Hill area for 15 years. “So I want to be a good tenant. And I have great landlords — Usha’s great.”

The Vances purchased the rowhouse when the two recent Yale Law School graduates were newlyweds, a time when Usha Vance was clerking for then-D.C. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. Their house sits on an archetypal Capitol Hill block lined with towering trees and cozy front porches, with a few rainbow Pride flags dotting front yards — including Ashley’s — and a green “Climate Action NOW” sign at the end of the block.

The Vances bought the house for $590,000, according to property records, though it’s unclear exactly how long the two or Vance himself lived there; he later took a job working for billionaire Peter Thiel’s San Francisco investment firm, as Usha went on to clerk for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

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A spokesman for Vance did not respond to questions about his property.

Many neighbors, including a couple who lived there for upward of 20 years, were surprised to learn that Vance owned a home on the block. Some had only moved in over the past three years so had no memory of the couple, while others didn’t want to talk. But one, Todd Brintlinger, said that in the several years they were neighbors, J.D. Vance stood out to him — for being unfriendly.

“I never liked the guy,” Brintlinger said. “He did not say hello.”

He quickly added: “But Usha’s amazing.”

When Ashley looked at the house last fall, she picked it for its proximity to her daughter’s elementary school, having no inkling at first that she’d be paying rent to a sitting U.S. senator. Then she did a double take when she saw the lease.

“Oh!” the public relations professional remembers exclaiming. “And then it was just … okay, fine, this is Capitol Hill. Whatever!”

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Asked whether she supported Vance, Ashley said she would rather not discuss politics. She said she’d never spoken to J.D. Vance. If she has a problem — a broken smoke alarm, an issue with the gas line — she calls or texts Usha. “Always responsive, always kind,” Ashley said. “Genuinely, she is lovely.”

Ashley’s 6-year-old daughter emerged in the living room, perplexed to find a reporter there speaking to her mother.

“Wait, so what are you doing here?” she asked.

“Oh so, remember the people who own this house?” Ashley said to her.

“Mhm.”

“He’s kind of a big deal.”

“Really?” her daughter asked.

For her part, she liked the house, too, the 6-year-old said, particularly the basement where she keeps her Barbie DreamHouse.

Ashley stepped back into the newly renovated turquoise-tiled kitchen to check on the tapioca she had cooking on the stove. There were some sugar ants making their way into the kitchen lately, she said, as she sprayed down the countertops with cleaner — but nothing she’d think to bother the landlords about.

Besides, they were getting ready to appear on television, though not necessarily on Ashley’s. The Republican National Convention was about to begin.

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