Tim Walz and JD Vance Have Had Very Different Financial Trajectories

JD Vance and Tim Walz both came from modest backgrounds, but they have had very different trajectories when it comes to their personal fortunes.

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There is a vast gulf in wealth between Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, left, and Senator JD Vance of Ohio, but they grew up in similar financial circumstances.

After JD Vance was elected to the Senate from Ohio in 2022, he and his wife bought a five-bedroom house — their third home — for $1.6 million in Alexandria, Va., not far from the Capitol. Their real estate agent told a local magazine that the buyers paid in cash.

When Tim Walz was elected governor of Minnesota four years earlier, his family was living in a heavily mortgaged Cape Cod-style house, with one room rented out, about 90 miles from Minneapolis. After moving into the governor’s mansion, they sold the house for $304,000 — less than the asking price.

These real estate transactions are just one example of the vast gulf in wealth between the two vice-presidential candidates. On their tax return for 2023, the Walzes reported $299,000 in income, more than they had declared in years. Mr. Vance, a multimillionaire, had more than that in just his checking accounts the year before, according to his most recent financial disclosure form.

That distinction could come into play in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where both campaigns are hoping the vice-presidential candidates can present an Everyman appeal to Midwestern and rural voters.

But one running mate is rich and the other far from it — and Mr. Walz, a former teacher, is already emphasizing the difference. Appearing with Vice President Kamala Harris, in Philadelphia on Tuesday, he said Mr. Vance “had his career funded by Silicon Valley millionaires,” adding: “Come on, that’s not what Middle America is.”

Mr. Vance, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, has been campaigning this week in the same states as Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz. Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for Mr. Vance, said the senator “earned his own success.” He continued: “Tim Walz knows better. His insult of Senator Vance is an insult to every American who has worked hard to overcome adversity.”

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