Vice presidential nominees Walz and Vance face off in final scheduled debate before Election Day

Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, are set to face off in the sole VP debate on Tuesday, with just five weeks until Election Day.

After the presidential debate where Vice President Kamala Harris performed well against former President Donald Trump but didn’t appear to gain more support, the vice presidential nominees are expected to aid the top of their respective tickets in the close race.

While vice presidential debates tend to not have a significant impact on the election overall, with the RealClearPolitics polling average showing Harris just two points ahead of Trump, the focus on important policy issues could influence undecided voters.

The economy and abortion are major policy issues that the campaigns have faced during the race. While Vance has focused on inflation under the Biden-Harris administration and encouraging manufacturing in the U.S., has advocated for increased abortion access.

Debate setup

The vice presidential debate is thus far the last debate scheduled before Election Day, after Trump and Harris had their first debate against each other on Sept. 10. While Harris has challenged Trump to a second presidential debate on CNN, Trump has declined.

In the aftermath of the ABC News presidential debate where moderators “fact-checked” numerous alleged misstatements by Trump but none from Harris, CBS News said its hosts will not correct Vance and Walz.

CBS said Friday that Vance and Walz will be free to point out alleged misinformation, and that microphones will remain on for both candidates even when it is not their turn to speak, which could facilitate their ability to fact-check one another, according to the Associated Press.

CBS News did, however, say it reserves the right to shut off a “hot mic” if it sees fit to do so, and it also said one of its units will provide real-time fact-checking during the debate on a live blog and on social media, and in its post-debate television analysis.

The 90-minute debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday in a Manhattan TV studio and will be moderated by the outgoing CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

Trump announced on Monday that he will post a "play by play" of the vice presidential debate on Tuesday evening on Truth Social.

Candidates’ background

Harris announced Walz as her running mate in early August, nearly four weeks after Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 20 and endorsed Harris as the new Democratic presidential candidate. Trump tapped Vance as his running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention in July.

Walz has been governor of Minnesota since 2019, after serving his state as a congressman from 2007 to 2019. Meanwhile, Vance has been a U.S. senator for Ohio since 2023. Both men have served in the military, with Vance enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps and serving in the Iraq War before retiring in 2007, and Walz enlisting in the Army National Guard and serving for 24 years before retiring in 2005 to run for office.

Vance grew up in a working class, small town in Ohio that he described in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, while Walz grew up on a Nebraska farm before moving to Minnesota in high school.

Criticisms

Walz has labeled the Republican ticket as “weird” while Vance has argued that Walz is too progressive for voters.

Controversy surrounding Walz’s military record could be a point of discussion during the debate.

Harris' campaign tweaked Walz's biography last month, following controversy about his military credentials. Walz was referred to as a “retired command sergeant major” and it now states that he once served at the command sergeant major rank, a minor change that more accurately reflects his rank at retirement.

The Minnesota National Guard confirmed that Walz was demoted and did not retire as a command sergeant major like he has claimed for years, including in his official gubernatorial biography.

While Walz temporarily held the title of command sergeant major he "retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy," Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s State Public Affairs Officer, told Just the News.

Vance has criticized Walz over the discrepancy and alleged that the governor lied about his credentials.

Polls

A total of 43% of registered voters say that they will watch the entire vice presidential debate live, according to a CBS News/YouGov survey. Those who said they would watch or read highlights made up 27%, compared to 18% who said they would watch part of it live, while 12% said they would not watch the debate. Only 24% said they will be watching the debate to help them decide who to vote for.

The survey also found that 49% of registered voters believe Walz is qualified to be president, if necessary, while 44% believe the same of Vance. However, 51% said that Walz isn’t qualified, and 56% said the same about Vance.

Of the registered voters surveyed, 86% said that they want to hear the candidates' economic views, 76% said they want to learn about the candidates' immigration views, 56% want to hear their views on abortion. Just 14% of respondents said they want to hear the candidates criticizing each other.

The poll was conducted between September 25-27 of 2,011 registered voters with a margin of error of ±2.7 points.

A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that around one-quarter of registered voters have a somewhat or very favorable view of Vance, while about 4 in 10 have a positive opinion of Walz.

The poll was conducted Sept. 12-16, of 1,771 registered voters, with a margin of sampling error ±3.4 percentage points.