Political opponents Harris and Vance show Americans modern, interfaith marriages

At the Democratic National Convention, second gentleman Doug Emhoff wanted to show another side of his wife.

“Kamala has connected me more deeply to my faith, even though it’s not the same as hers,” he said, highlighting his interfaith marriage to Vice President Harris.

Emhoff is Jewish and Harris is Christian. He said she attends High Holiday services with him, and he attends Easter services with her. And, he said, they share their food traditions.

“I get to enjoy her mom’s chili relleno recipe every Christmas, and she makes a mean brisket for Passover,” Emhoff said to applause.

At a National Prayer Breakfast in 2022, Harris talked about the values she’d grown up with in church in Oakland, Calif.

“As I know we have all learned and been taught, faith is not passive,” Harris said. “Faith motivates action.”

One home, different faiths

A growing number of Americans are part of interfaith relationships — a reality that is also reflected in the candidates on both major-party presidential tickets this year. On the Republican ticket, the vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is also in an interfaith marriage.

Vance spoke about his relationship at an event hosted by the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition on the day after he’d addressed the Republican National Convention in July.

“What really brought me back to Christ was finding a wife,” Vance said.

Vance said he was motivated to rediscover his faith as he thought about how to become a better husband and father.

“It’s funny, my wife, despite not being raised Christian herself, she made this observation to me when our son was about a year old and I started going to church,” he said. “And she said, ‘You know, this isn’t really my thing and I don’t have a background