Washington — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went from relative obscurity to fabrication a line of attack against the Republicans and become Democrats vice presidential candidate within a few weeks this summer. He ran against his GOP rival, Sen. J.D. Vance Tuesday’s VP debatehosted 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 since becoming governor in 2019, he has taken a more liberal stance on a number of issues.

Here’s where he stands on several key issues:

Tim Walz’s views and reports on abortion and IVF

As governor, Walz signed legislation codifying abortion rights in 2023, making Minnesota the first state to do so 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 issues after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are legal for children. 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 of infertility, I guarantee you know someone who has,” Walz said in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. “I remember praying every night for a phone call, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the absolute agony when we heard that the treatments hadn’t worked. It took me and Gwen years.”

The couple eventually fathered their daughter Hope intrauterine insemination treatmentsalso called IUI.

The war between Israel and Gaza

The vice presidential candidate has reiterated Vice President Kamala Harris’ position on the war in Gaza, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas attacked the US ally on October 7, while also condemning the suffering of Palestinians acknowledges.

Israel has “the right to defend itself and the United States will always adhere to that, but we cannot allow what happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people themselves have every right to life and liberty,” he said in early September. “It is a humanitarian crisis. It can’t stay the way it is. And we have to find a way for people to live together in this, and we have said it and continue to say it, reaching a ceasefire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two-state solution is the only way forward.”

Checking the weapon

Walz, who once received an A grade from the NRA, won several votes to expand access to firearms during his six terms in Congress. At the time he represented a rural district.

“I grew up hunting and served in the Army National Guard for 24 years,” Walz said in 2010. “I know how important Second Amendment rights are to the people of southern Minnesota. I am proud to stand with the NRA to protect our Second Amendment. Amendment rights, and I am truly grateful for their approval.”

He began softening his stance against an assault weapons ban in 2012 after the Sandy Hook school shooting, which left 20 children and six adults dead.

“It must strike the right balance between the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens versus the safety of all Americans,” he said of a possible solution to the legislation.

Walz took a more liberal stance on gun control while running for governor of Minnesota. He criticized the NRA, writing in the Minnesota Star Tribune that “this is the biggest obstacle to passing the most basic measures to prevent gun violence in America.” He also said he supported a ban on assault weapons.

As governor, he signed legislation requiring background checks for gun transfers and a “red flag” law that allows law enforcement to take away a person’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 prioritiesincluding free school meals for all students from nursery to secondary school. Democrats have also passed legislation providing tax credits and credits for low- and middle-income families, such as a $1,750 child tax credit to help lift children out of poverty, while raising taxes on foreign corporations and the investment income of wealthy taxpayers.

When Walz became governor in 2019, Minnesota’s 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 at the same level as before the pandemic, although it has risen in recent months, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

However, Minnesota’s economic growth has been slower than the national pace. The state’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product — which measures the total value of goods and services — rose 1.6% in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. US GDP is up 2.9% in 2023.

Immigration

In Congress, Walz voted for a bill that would ban Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the U.S. unless they pass strict background checks. As governor, Walz welcomed refugee resettlement in Minnesota, saying the state “has a strong moral tradition of welcoming those who seek refuge.”

“The inn in Minnesota is not full,” he wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019.

Minnesota is home to large Somali, Karen, Hmong, and Liberian populations.

In 2021, Walz asked Democrats in Congress to find a path to citizenship for essential workers, “dreamers” and immigrants with temporary protected status, as well as their families.

He signed a bill last year that made undocumented immigrants eligible to get a driver’s license in Minnesota.

“With an estimated 81,000 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota, the bill will increase safety throughout Minnesota by ensuring that all drivers are licensed, insured and have completed driver training,” according to a news release.

Undocumented immigrants in Minnesota also became eligible to enroll in the state’s public health insurance program for low-income residents and apply for free college tuition under Walz’s guidance.

CBS News will host the only scheduled vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz on Tuesday, October 1 at 9:00 PM ET on CBS and CBS News 24/7. Download the free CBS News app for live reporting, post-debate analysis, in-depth fact checks and more.