The vice presidential acceptance speech delivered by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took only 16 minutes. It started with plenty of biographical information about his upbringing in Nebraska and about his teaching, political and National Guard career in Minnesota.

“So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience and no money running in a deep red district,” he said about his decision to run for Congress in 2006.

It is true Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District has been largely represented by Republicans since it was created in 1863. Walz beat six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht by 5 points in 2006.

However, for the 12 years before Gutknecht the district was represented by Democrat Tim Penny for 12 years. So by the time Walz was done serving, the 1st District had been represented by Democrats for 24 out of 36 years.

It has been back in Republican hands since Walz left to run for governor in 2018.

Walz also made several claims about laws and policies enacted while serving as governor.

“We cut taxes for the middle class. We passed paid family and medical leave. We invested in fighting crime and affordable housing,” he said.

All of those things are true, but the tax cut claims are a bit misleading. While it’s true he signed legislation with about $3 billion in tax credits and rebates, he also signed other legislation increasing taxes on metro area sales taxes for housing and transit; indexing the gas tax to inflation and a 50-cent delivery fee on any orders over $100.

Together, those taxes and other fees will raise billions in revenue, including from the middle class. It’s a big reason why the two-year budget spiked nearly 40%.

Walz also warned about the danger of sending Donald Trump back to the White House with Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

“If these guys get back in the White House … they’ll start jacking up the cost on the middle class. They’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act,” Walz said.

It’s unclear what Trump policies Walz thinks will increase the cost of living on the middle class.

What we do know is that under the Biden-Harris administration inflation peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022 before slowly receding to just below 3% now.

As for repealing the Affordable Care Act, it is true Trump has said on many occasions over the past several years he’d like to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. However, during this current campaign he softened his position by saying he wants to improve the program, not eliminate it.

“I’m ready to turn the page on these guys. So say it with me: We’re not going back,” Walz said to loud cheers on Wednesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris is likely to touch on some of the same themes in her acceptance speech Thursday night.