Washington — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went from relative obscurity to coining an attack line against Republicans and becoming Democrats’ vice presidential candidate within a number of weeks this summer. He faced off against his GOP rival, Sen. JD Vance, at Tuesday’s VP debate, hosted by CBS News
His political career began in 2006, when he was elected to the House of Representatives from a conservative district bordering Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin. But he’s taken a more liberal stance on a number of issues since becoming governor in 2019.
Here’s a look at where he stands on several important issues:
Tim Walz’s views and record on abortion and IVF
As governor, Walz signed legislation codifying abortion rights in 2023, making Minnesota the first state to do after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The legislation also protects access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.
Walz and his wife, Gwen, opened up about their own fertility struggles after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that frozen embryos made through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, are children under the law. The ruling opened the door to potential wrongful death claims if an embryo did not survive the process.
“If you’ve never experienced the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you, you know somebody who has,” Walz said in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. “I remember praying each night for a call, the pit in my stomach when the phone would ring and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn’t worked. It took me and Gwen years.”
The couple eventually conceived their daughter, Hope, through intrauterine insemination treatments, also known as IUI.
The Israel-Gaza war
The vice presidential candidate has echoed Vice President Kamala Harris’ stance on the war in Gaza, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas attacked the U.S. ally on Oct. 7, while also acknowledging the suffering of Palestinians.
Israel has “the right to defend themselves and the United States will always stand by that, but we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves,” he said in early September. “It’s a humanitarian crisis. It can’t stand the way it is. And we need to find a way that people can live together in this, and we’ve said it and continue to say it, getting a cease-fire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two state solution is the only way forward.”
Gun control
Walz, who once had an “A” grade from the NRA, took several votes during his six terms in Congress to expand access to firearms. At the time, he represented a rural district.
“I grew up hunting and spent 24 years in the Army National Guard,” Walz said in 2010. “I know how important Second Amendment rights are to the people of southern Minnesota. I’m proud to stand with the NRA to protect our Second Amendment rights, and I’m truly grateful for their endorsement.”
He began to soften his stance against an assault weapons ban in 2012 after the Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.
“It has to strike the proper balance between the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens versus the safety of all Americans,” he said of a potential legislative fix.
Walz took a more liberal stance on gun control while he ran for governor of Minnesota. He criticized the NRA, writing in the Minnesota Star Tribune that “it’s the biggest single obstacle to passing the most basic measures to prevent gun violence in America.” He also said he supported an assault weapons ban.
As governor, he signed legislation to require background checks for gun transfers and a “red flag” law that allows law enforcement to take away someone’s gun when they are at risk of harming themselves or someone else with a firearm.
The economy
In 2023, Minnesota’s $17.5 billion budget surplus provided Walz and the Democratic-controlled state legislature with funding for their priorities, including free school meals for all students from kindergarten through high school. Democrats also passed legislation that provided tax rebates and credits for low- and middle-income families, such as a $1,750 child tax credit to help lift kids out of poverty, while raising taxes on foreign corporations and wealthy taxpayer’s investment income.
When Walz became governor in 2019, the Minnesota unemployment rate was 3.3%. It peaked at 11.2% in May 2020, two months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The state’s unemployment rate is now on par to pre-pandemic levels, though it’s increased in recent months, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Minnesota’s economic growth, however, has been slower than the national rate. In 2023, the state’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product — which measures the total value of goods and services — increased 1.6%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. U.S. GDP increased 2.9% in 2023.
Immigration
In Congress, Walz voted for a bill that would block Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the U.S. unless they passed strict background checks. Walz, as governor, welcomed the resettlement of refugees in Minnesota, saying the state “has a strong moral tradition of welcoming those who seek refuge.”
“The inn is not full in Minnesota,” he wrote in a 2019 letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Minnesota is home to large Somali, Karen, Hmong and Liberian populations.
In 2021, Walz asked Democrats in Congress to find a pathway to citizenship for essential workers, “Dreamers” and immigrants who have Temporary Protected Status, as well as their families.
He signed a bill last year that made undocumented immigrants eligible for Minnesota driver’s licenses.
“With an estimated 81,000 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota, the bill will increase safety across Minnesota by ensuring that all drivers are licensed, insured, and have taken driver’s education courses,” a news release said.
Undocumented immigrants in Minnesota also became eligible to enroll in the state’s publicly run health insurance program for low-income residents and apply for free college tuition under Walz’s leadership.
CBS News will host the only planned vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS News 24/7. Download the free CBS News app for live coverage, post-debate analysis, comprehensive fact checks and more.