Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota took to the debate stage for the first and likely only time on Tuesday in New York City.

Tuesday’s debate comes 33 days before Election Day and in the wake of President Joe Biden leaving the presidential race and two attempted assassinations of former President Donald Trump.

Recent polls indicate that Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump are locked in a tight race. While the debate between Walz and Vance could give voters a lasting impression on the vice presidential nominees, vice presidential debates historically don’t have a meaningful impact on elections and usually garner lower ratings.

The 90-minute match-up steered clear of personal attacks and focused on policies and digs at the running mates’ opposing presidential nominees.

Walz had a rough start, while Vance maintained a relatively strong performance

Tuesday being his first vice presidential debate, Walz admitted that he has a tendency to “talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric,” the governor said.

In contrast, Vance frequently addressed the moderators throughout the debate and circled back to the questions that he was asked to attempt to center his argument. 

The candidates had a civil debate 

The debate was largely cordial, opposite to the tense debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in September. 

In a discussion on gun violence, Walz revealed his 17-year-old son had witnessed a shooting at a St. Paul community center in 2023 and Vance offered the governor condolences, saying he wasn’t aware of that story,

“I’m sorry about that. Christ have mercy,” Vance said.

“I appreciate that,” Walz said.

Throughout the debate, both candidates expressed commonality between their positions, though that civility didn’t extend to their opponent’s running mate.

“And I actually think, I agree with you. I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does,” Vance said in a conversation on border security.

“Much of what the senator said right there, I’m in agreement with him on this,” Walz said in response to Vance’s rhetoric on reshoring manufacturing. “The issue is Donald Trump is talking about it,” Walz continued.

Vance was then asked about whether he would challenge the election results of the 2024 election in light of comments he made saying he would not have certified the 2020 election. Vance dodged the question and offered an answer on inflation before circling back to the election saying “We should … debate those issues peacefully in the public square,” and arguing that Trump facilitated a peaceful transfer of power.

Walz then asked Vance directly whether the former president lost the 2020 election.

“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance said.

“That was a damning non-answer,” Walz responded.

Candidates repeatedly made their talking points, tried to tie each other to their running mates

Vance repeatedly returned to criticisms of the current Biden-Harris administration instead of addressing Walz’s political record. Specifically, he often spoke critically of the border policy and the cost of living over the last three and a half years.

“The most important thing here is Kamala Harris is not running as a newcomer to politics. She is the sitting Vice President,” Vance said in a discussion on housing. “I invite her to use the office that the American people already gave her.”

When questions were raised about Vance’s 2020 comments on Trump’s failing to deliver on his own promises in office, however, Vance blamed Congress for this discrepancy. 

“There were a lot of things that we could have done better in the Trump administration the first round, if Congress was doing its job,” Vance said. “They were so obsessed with impeaching Donald Trump, they couldn’t actually govern.”

Walz similarly spent a significant amount of time on Donald Trump, frequently launching criticisms of the former president’s economic policies, and response to COVID-19, and like his running mate trying to tie the Trump-Vance administration to Project 2025. 

Moderators took a relatively hands-off role

In contrast to the Trump and Harris debate which featured moderator fact-checking, Tuesday’s debate encouraged the candidates to fact check each other.

In a discussion on immigration, Walz refuted misleading claims from Vance that children had been used as drug mules at the southern border. Later, two also scuffled over Minnesota’s late-term abortion laws which Vance mischaracterized, echoing debunked claims by his running mate made on the September debate stage that Walz and other Democrats had supported abortions “after birth.”

One tense exchange did come early on when both the candidate’s mics were cut when Vance referred to immigrants in Springfield as “illegal.” Moderator Margaret Brennan fact-checked the statement and reminded viewers that the immigrants there have “temporary protected status” and are here legally.

Following this Vance challenged the moderators.

“The rules were that you guys were going to fact check, and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on,” Vance said, before arguing with the moderators, and interjecting Walz, that this temporary status still counts as illegal immigration calling its users “illegal migrants,” and blaming Harris for allowing it to happen.

Brennan repeatedly tried to redirect the conversation before the candidate’s mics were cut and the moderators moved to a question about the economy.

Immigration and abortion remain chief issues of debate

Much like the first presidential debate between Trump and Harris immigration and abortion were some of the most discussed issues on Tuesday’s debate stage, mirroring national surveys which places the two issues as some of the most important to voters in this election cycle.

Vance accused Harris of letting “fentanyl into our communities at record levels,” and cited inflated numbers on the number of undocumented immigrants in the country. He would return to the issue of immigration and an “open border” during discussions of housing costs and gun violence.

Walz echoed Harris in her debate criticizing Trump for helping to kill a bipartisan border security bill earlier in the year, saying, “You don’t want to solve it. You demonize it,” and touting the fact that border crossings “are down compared to when Donald Trump left office,” despite the number reaching an all time high under Biden’s term a year earlier.

Walz used his time to comment on abortion to decry the deaths of mothers in abortion restricted states and provided his state of Minnesota as the model for abortion and healthcare access.

“We are ranked first in health care for a reason. We trust women, we trust doctors,” Walz said. “I use this line on this [topic], just mind your own business on this,” Walz continued.

Vance denied supporting a federal pregnancy monitor or national abortion ban, criticized Democrats as being “pro-abortion,” and expressed the need for a pro-family stance.

Vance also expressed that the Republican Party must “do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue.”

Candidates responded to criticisms of their personal history and qualifications 

Vance was asked about his criticisms of Trump dating back to 2016 when the Senator called the former president “America’s Hitler,” and defended his running mate, saying that he had previously believed “dishonest applications” of Trump’s record in the media.

“Donald Trump delivered for the American people … a lot of things, frankly, that I didn’t think he’d be able to deliver on,” Vance said. “And yeah, when you screw up, when you misspeak, when you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people about it.”

Walz was asked to explain the inconsistency between his previous claims that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protest in the spring of 1989, despite various media outlets reporting that Walz did not travel to the country until later that year.

After delivering a two-minute answer on his upbringing and background, calling himself “a knucklehead at times,” Walz was pressed for a direct answer, to which he responded that he had “misspoke.”