Vance, Walz offer stark contrast as vice presidential options

WASHINGTON — In a tight presidential race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, the race to define their vice presidential running mates is in full swing, as each campaign looks to its No. 2 to energize base voters and draw the slim margin of undecided voters to its side.

Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and JD Vance, a freshman Republican senator from Ohio, both hail from the Midwest and tout their rural upbringings and military service. But they diverge on campaign style and what they offer their running mates, political analysts told Newsday.

Vance, 40, a second-year senator, is regarded by conservatives as a young firebrand who can carry on Trump’s MAGA movement beyond a potential second Trump term. But he has had a rocky launch, having to defend comments he previously made about "childless cat ladies" and his belief that families should carry more weight in elections than childless voters.

Walz, 60, a former Congressman-turned-governor, reportedly has told Harris that he has no plans to run for the White House and is viewed by Democrats as an affable everyman figure who can help Harris gin up support among white male voters, particularly in the Rust Belt. But Walz is now facing his own scrutiny from Republicans over his National Guard service and liberal-leaning policies he enacted as governor.

"The challenge for both of these vice presidential candidates now, and in the months ahead, is really introducing themselves to a national constituency," said William Howell, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. "Walz has a longer record, but he was all but unknown at the national level as early as a month ago. And Vance, while he has a fan group at the national level, he doesn't have a kind of presence that Harris or a Trump does. And so much of what we're going to see is just how they introduce themselves to people who've never heard of them before."

Here are three ways the vice presidential candidates are looking to define themselves:

Rural appeal

Vance became a fixture on the cable news circuit in 2016 after the release of his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," which describes his time growing up in Middletown, Ohio, and rural Kentucky, surrounded by poverty and addiction. He went on to graduate Yale Law School and work as a venture capitalist. 

Walz, who was born and raised in rural Nebraska before moving to Minnesota, has touted his own self-declared "hillbilly" background, saying in television interviews that he graduated from a high school class of 24 where half the class were his cousins. Walz is an avid hunter and former high school football coach who political analysts say will help Harris shore up support in Midwestern battlegrounds.

"The Harris campaign believes that Walz's personal biography gives them the ability to reach out to rural voters in a way that many Democrats cannot," said Dan Schnur, who served as communications director for Republican John McCain’s 2000 presidential primary campaign. "Their goal is for him to talk to voters in less-populated parts of Wisconsin and Michigan and Pennsylvania and hopefully win them. It’s not a lot of votes, but in a close election it can make a difference."

Military service

Both men served in the military — Vance for four years in the Marines and Walz for 24 years in the U.S. Army National Guard — and while both served stints overseas, neither experienced combat.

Vance, who enlisted in 2003 after graduating high school, has raised questions about Walz’s decision to retire from the Minnesota National Guard to run for a U.S. House seat in 2005, months before his Minnesota battalion was deployed to Iraq.

Walz, who enlisted in the National Guard in 1981 at the age of 17, faced similar criticisms about the timing of his retirement during his gubernatorial run but has said he made his decision months before his battalion was ordered to Iraq in August 2005. Walz filed to run for Congress in February 2005, and his retirement from the Guard was made official in May of that year, according to military records and media reports. The battalion he served in was mobilized in October of that year before it deployed to Iraq in March 2006.

Vance served a six-month stint in Iraq in 2005 and was part of a public affairs unit, tasked with writing about the experience of troops. He also spent time visiting Iraqi locals as part of a civilian affairs unit, according to his memoir.

"I was lucky to escape any real fighting," Vance wrote in the book.

Walz, during his time in the guard, was deployed to help with natural disaster recovery efforts. In August 2003, his battalion was deployed to Vicenza, Italy, to provide backup to U.S. troops leaving the base there to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Though Walz never served in a combat zone, he has come under attack from Vance for stating in a 2018 town hall that he carried "weapons of war . . . in war."

The Harris-Walz campaign defended Walz’ service in a statement, saying: "In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times."

Elected experience

Vance is a relative political newcomer — having won an open U.S. Senate seat from Ohio in 2022 that was previously held by a Republican. He emerged the victor in a crowded primary field with Trump’s endorsement.

During his two years in office, Vance has used his time on the Senate floor to promote right-flank positions, including opposing U.S. aid to Ukraine and to denounce the Biden administration’s handling of migration at the U.S. southern border.

Walz served in the U.S. House for 12 years, flipping a rural Minnesota seat long held by Republicans in 2006. He was regarded as a bipartisan lawmaker, who was ranked the seventh-most bipartisan House member during the 114th Congress, according to the Lugar Center and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, which tracks each House member’s ability to co-sponsor legislation across the aisle.

He ran and won his first bid for Minnesota governor in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.

Walz’s time in the U.S. House and as governor have given both parties more of a record to analyze compared with Vance. Democrats praise Walz for passing initiatives like free school meals for Minnesota schoolchildren and codifying abortion protections into state law. Republicans have taken aim at some of his socially liberal policies, including passing a bill that provided undocumented immigrants the ability to obtain a driver’s license and signing an executive order to protect the rights of transgender individuals to receive medical treatments allowing them to live according to their gender identity.

Christopher Malone, a political science professor at Farmingdale State University, told Newsday that while Vance may not have an expansive legislative record, Democrats likely will look to brand him as inexperienced and unable to step into the role of commander in chief if needed.

"With Biden out of the race, Democrats will likely pivot to talking about Trump being the oldest nominee and the oldest serving president if he does get reelected," Malone said. "That's why Vance becomes very important, because people may start to think, if Trump is unable to serve a full term, is his vice presidential nominee ready?"

With Tom Brune

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.