BY EMERSON LAYNE

With all this talk about the current presidential candidates, what about their vice president picks? 

For context, Donald Trump’s vice president pick is JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, while Kamala Harris’ vice president pick is Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota. Both vice president picks have similar views to their presidential candidates, but let’s see how they specifically view on prominent issues. 

Abortion has been a major concern amongst women voters, especially after the overturn of Roe  v. Wade back in 2022. Tim Walz believes abortion is healthcare and in the past signed multiple legislations that protect reproductive freedoms. On the other hand, JD Vance believes it should be up to the states to decide whether abortion should be legal or not. Also, during an 2021 interview with Vance and Curtis Jackson, Jackson asked Vance if a woman should carry a child to term if the woman is a victim of rape or incest. Vance replied, “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society”. 

Another issue that has been a concern to voters is the state of the U.S-Mexican border and immigration policies. While there hasn’t been anything concrete on Walz’s stance on immigration and the U.S-Mexican border, Walz has signed bills that allow undocumented immigrants to be granted driver’s licenses and free tuition at a state university. Whereas Vance has been in support of stopping the flow of immigrants from entering the country at the U.S-Mexican border and supports the limit of legal immigration. 

The Israel-Gaza War has become a growing issue in the middle east after attacks from Israel and Hamas on each other, killing many civilians. Walz has stated that he fully supports a two-state solution and condemns both sides of the war for the killing of innocent people. Vance has stated that he fully supports Israel, but condemns Israel for not doing enough to stop Hamas and the unnecessary killing of innocent Palestinians. 

The economy has been in a clunky state for some voters. General inflation has been at a steady level but the effects have heavily impacted working Americans and families. From Walz’s signed bills in Minnesota, he passed multiple laws for child tax credit, worker safety requirements, and funding for construction projects. While Vance has been in support of the upheaval of the minimum wage, cryptocurrency, and tariffs. 

Another major concern for American voters is gun control, especially after the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia. Walz has been in open support of assault weapon bans and red flag laws that allow police or courts to take away weapons under suspicion of violence in an individual. Although Vance doesn’t believe that an outright ban of assault weapons would fix anything, stating that it is an unfortunate fact of life, believes Americans should be allowed to have their weapons. 

So these were the stances of the current vice president picks for the 2024 election. Just as a reminder, make sure to check the background of both presidential candidates and their vice president picks, since you are voting for both of them if you’re eligible.