Comparing the Vice Presidential Candidates on the Issues
Support for Unions
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Has a strong history of standing with working people, including setting up a standards board in Minnesota for nursing home workers that will mean higher pay for these workers
- Banned non-compete agreements that stop people from getting better jobs
- Raised wages for Uber and Lyft drivers in Minnesota so they got paid more
- Signed into law paid sick leave and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for workers in Minnesota
- Voted against the PRO Act, which would make it easier for workers to form unions.
- Backs plans that would make it harder for workers to protect their rights, like Project 2025.
- Funded by Wall Street bankers and Silicon Valley billionaires, including Elon Musk who publicly applauded the practice of firing employees who threaten to strike.
Care
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Made child care more affordable and expanded Pre-K in Minnesota
- Expanded free school meals to all children in Minnesota
- Expanded paid family and medical leave in Minnesota, providing up to 12 weeks for new parents, caring for sick family members or dealing with serious health conditions.
- Created a new tax credit to help families with children
- Signed into law paid sick leave
- Signed into law 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for workers in Minnesota
- Established a Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board to set wages across the industry
- Increased the wages of home care workers from $15.25 to $19 per hour in 2024, a 25 percent increase, and to $20 per hour in 2025
- Opposes universal child care
- Invested in a Kentucky startup company that subjected workers to unsafe working conditions, leading to worker complaints about safety and heat exhaustion
The Economy
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Signed a bill to fix roads and bridges in Minnesota, creating many good jobs.
- Made sure rideshare drivers got better pay, and gave workers paid leave and sick days.
- Imposed taxes on the wealthy and multinational corporations in Minnesota
- Funded by Wall Street bankers and Silicon Valley billionaires, including Elon Musk.
- Believes some workers might never find good-paying jobs again, especially in manufacturing.
- Called the Inflation Reduction Act – a bill created to make thousands of new jobs and is intended to help stop climate change, a mistake
- WIll let the wealthy get away with not paying their fair share of taxes
Racial Justice
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Banned chokeholds, improved police training, and made deadly force rules stricter after George Floyd’s death.
- Championed second chances for those convicted of crimes; focused on rehabilitation, offering job training, mental health care, and substance abuse treatment.
- Passed laws to keep African American families together and banned hair discrimination.
- Aligns with far-right figures promoting hate and division.
- Pushes harmful ideologies that divide communities
- Spread racist ideas about Haitian immigrants; resulting in attacks on those living in Springfield, Ohio
Immigration
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Supports a path to citizenship for young immigrants who grew up in the U.S.
- Made it easier for immigrants in Minnesota to get a driver’s license so they could work and fully participate in the community.
- Believes in a welcoming immigration system that helps everyone contribute and succeed.
- Wants to build a border wall and deport families, which could separate parents from children.
- Supports divisive rhetoric that harms immigrants and promotes harmful policies like cutting healthcare for Dreamers.
Healthcare
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Voted for the Affordable Care Act, helping 100,000 Minnesotans get covered and lowering premiums.
- Signed a bill to allow uninsured people to buy into MinnesotaCare.
- Signed a bill investing $60 million in mental health services.
- Secured $300 million to fight the opioid epidemic in Minnesota.
- Signed bills capping insulin prices and reducing medical debt.
- Supports a plan that would let insurance companies deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
- Fought against the Inflation Reduction Act, a law that lowered prescription prices.
- Pushed bills cutting health care access for immigrant youth who were brought to this country by their parents.
Climate Change
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Created a 100% Clean Energy by 2040 plan to power Minnesota with clean energy, creating jobs and fighting climate change.
- Led the state to adopt clean car standards, helping both the economy and the environment.
- Signed a bill to cut energy costs and boost clean energy jobs.
- Secured a $200 million EPA grant to fight pollution and improve public health in Minnesota.
- Denies climate change; questions whether it is man-made, hurting efforts to lower costs and protect the planet.
- Funded by Big Oil, Vance opposes clean energy and backs fracking, risking pollution and health.
Reproductive Rights
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Made Minnesota the first state to strengthen reproductive rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
- Removed barriers for women seeking abortion care and ensured schools provided free menstrual products.
- Backs extreme abortion bans, including in cases of rape or incest.
- Supports banning abortion nationwide, even in states where it’s legal.
Voting Rights
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Restored voting rights to 55,000 Minnesotans who served their time, helping them rejoin the community.
- Made voting easier with automatic registration, mail-in voting, and pre-registration for young voters.
- Expanded access to voting in multiple languages to ensure everyone can participate.
- Signed laws to protect voting rights and expand the time people can take off work to vote.
- Opposes voter ID laws, believing they unfairly restrict access.
- Spread false claims about the 2020 election and immigrants voting.
- Supports strict voter ID laws, making it harder for many to vote.
- Wants to give the president the power to override the Supreme Court.
- Believes people without children should have less voting power.
LGBTQIA+ Rights
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Stands up for LGBTQ+ rights, promising to always support them.
- Banned harmful conversion therapy in Minnesota.
- Protected healthcare access for transgender individuals.
- Made Minnesota a safe state for transgender people, ensuring they can get necessary care.
- Created a safe space for LGBTQIA+ students, as a high school teacher
- Supported marriage equality and worked to end discrimination in the military.
- Worked to enact hate crime protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.
- Opposes laws that protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination.
- Criticized the Equality Act, which would ensure equal treatment.
- Introduced legislation that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors.
- Opposes marriage equality and has spread harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ+ community.
Judges
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Appointed judges who care about fairness for everyone, not just the rich.
- Made history by nominating a majority-women Minnesota Supreme Court.
- Chose Natalie Hudson as the first Chief Justice of color in the state.
- Believes in a justice system that represents all Minnesotans.
- Wants to appoint extreme judges who could take away women’s rights and LGBTQ protections.
- Pushed for a political investigation into a judge to defend Trump, showing disregard for justice.
COVID Response
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Made sure essential workers got COVID-19 vaccines and extra pay for their hard work.
- Gave “hero pay” to frontline workers like nurses and doctors.
- Helped small businesses and families with financial support during the pandemic.
- Provided free COVID-19 tests and life-saving treatments.
- Made it easier for healthcare workers to access workers’ compensation benefits.
- Prevented evictions and helped families with rent assistance.
- Opposed basic public health measures like masks.
- Spread misinformation about COVID-19, creating fear and confusion.
- Took a negative stance against mask mandates, saying COVID would always be here and downplaying efforts to fight it.
Student Debt
Tim Walz
JD Vance
- Signed the North Star Promise program to make public college free for families earning under $80,000.
- Signed a loan forgiveness program for healthcare workers that would pay off 15% of the average debt for their fields for eligible nurses.
- Expanded tax exemptions for student loan forgiveness to give families financial relief.
- Believes everyone deserves affordable education and works to lower college costs and reduce student debt.
- Opposes student loan forgiveness, calling it unfair and illegal.
- Fought against Biden’s plan to relieve student debt.
- Prioritizes politics over helping families with crushing debt.