VP candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz to debate on Tuesday. Here's what to expect, how to watch

Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will debate Tuesday in what’s scheduled as the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 campaign.

Vance, 40, is a first-term senator from Ohio, running on the Republican ticket with former President Donald Trump. Vance is probably best known as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-seller about growing up in a working class family facing economic troubles.

Walz, 60, has been governor of Minnesota since 2019. A Democrat, he’s running with Vice President Kamala Harris, the former California attorney general and U.S. senator. Walz is a former high school social studies teacher and football coach.

Neither candidate is well known to most of the public, making the debate an important chapter in the White House campaign.

Vice presidential debates have been notable for memorable lines and looks. In 1988, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen tore into Republican Dan Quayle after Quayle compared his resume to that of John F. Kennedy as a young senator. “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,” a stone-faced Bentsen shot back.

Four years later, Adm. James Stockdale, running with Independent Ross Perot, asked :”Who am I? Why am I here?” Four years ago, Vice President Mike Pence was distracted by a fly that wouldn’t go away.

Here are some things to know:

WHEN IS THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

The J.D. Vance-Tim Walz debate will begin at 6 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 1. It’s scheduled to last for 90 minutes.

WHERE ARE THEY DEBATING?

CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. CBS has not provided details of the rules yet, but it’s anticipated they will be similar to the Sept. 10 presidential debate, which had the two candidates standing at podiums, with microphones muted when they were not addressing a question. There was no audience.

HOW CAN I WATCH THE DEBATE?

CBS News is hosting the debate, and viewers can watch it on their local CBS affiliate. The debate will be streamed live on CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+. It’s also being simulcast, meaning other networks and platforms will carry it. Among them are ABC, NBC, PBS News, CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, NewsNation and Fox.

WHO’S MODERATING THE DEBATE?

Moderators will be “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

WHAT COULD HAPPEN DURING TUESDAY’S DEBATE?

Vice presidential nominees are historically less guarded and more partisan than their running mates, and Vance and Walz have followed that script so far.

Vance has been the more controversial figure. He has continued to insist that Haitian refugees in Springfield, Ohio, may be eating pets, and stirred outrage when his 2021 comments calling some Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies” surfaced..

Walz has also been under some fire. Vance, a Marine who served in Iraq, has criticized Vance, who served in the Army National Guard for 24 years, for leaving the service just before his unit was to be deployed there. Walz pointed out that he left to run for Congress.

The night’s key flashpoints are expected to be the two issues at the top of polls’ list of biggest voter concerns, the economy and immigration. Walz vows to take steps to boost middle class job prospects and incomes. Vance insists a Trump administration can bring down the rate of inflation and spur broad tax cuts.