Mankato is hosting dueling watch parties for the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance

Dan Feehan, a Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, narrowly lost a 2018 congressional race to replace Walz in the House of Representatives to Republican Jim Hagedorn. He said the first call his family received the morning after the election was from Gwen Walz, asking about Feehan and his wife, Amy, and inviting them to visit.

“This is a chance for the rest of the country to know who he is as a person,” Feehan said.

The DFLers were in great spirits when the evening began. “We’re going to go hard in this debate and then get out of here!” State Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, said to a cheering audience before the debate.

As the back-and-forth began, attendees at the Democratic event clapped as Walz attacked Trump over Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities and booed as Vance criticized President Joe Biden’s administration’s stance toward Iran. Applause erupted when Walz said, “We trust women; We trust doctors,” as boos rang out as Vance spoke about how to gain trust during abortions.

Attendees at the Republican event cheered as Walz spoke about his stance on health care and immigration policy. Annette Pruitt-Rogers, who came to Mankato from Le Sueur, Minnesota, shouted, “Don’t go there!” as Walz quoted a Bible verse on stage. She said she disapproved of Walz’s incantatory scripture and called it a sensitive issue because she opposed his stance on same-sex marriage and abortion.

Walz and Vance debated without an audience at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.