Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance participated in their first, and only debate Tuesday night, and Florida Democrats are calling for a grand jury to investigate one of the state's property insurance providers.
Vance, Walz find common ground on issues, but differ on how to address them
After last month’s debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, which featured arguments over crowd sizes at rallies and a false claim about immigrants eating pets, the most surprising part about Tuesday night’s debate between their running mates was perhaps just how civil and focused on policy it was.
That’s not to say that there weren’t a few feisty moments — like when JD Vance had his microphone cut off and complained to the moderators that “the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check,” or when Tim Walz admitted he misspoke about his claim that he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square — but the “battle of the Midwest” between the Republican Ohio senator and the Democratic Minnesota governor was downright cordial.
And things truly got testy between the two officials came toward the very end, when Walz asked Vance point-blank if Trump lost the 2020 election — and the Ohio Republican dodged the question, saying instead he was “focused on the future.”
“That’s a damning non-answer,” Walz replied.
But otherwise, the two men made the cases for their respective candidates to the American people with a focus on policy and, surprisingly, often agreeing with one another on key issues, like affordability and paid family and medical leave — though naturally differing on how to solve them.
Perhaps underscoring the polite tone of the debate — after it was all over, the two candidates shook hands again, chatted for a bit and introduced their wives to each other.
Florida Democrats call for grand jury probe of allegations against property insurer
Florida House Democrats are calling for a statewide grand jury to explore allegations that some Florida property insurers are altering damage assessments to underpay or even reject consumer claims.
In a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell spotlighted a new 60 Minutes report that suggests at least one insurer operating in Florida is undermining damage reports related to Hurricane Ian — a Category 4 storm that struck in 2022.
The 60 Minutes segment focused on Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance, a company the state confirms is under an active and ongoing fraud investigation.
“Although the case is still open, I can tell you that our investigators have conducted dozens of witness interviews and collected thousands of documents of evidence,” said Florida Department of Financial Services Communications Director Devin Galetta.
Earlier this year, the Office of Insurance Regulation fined the company more than $1 million, citing hundreds of state violations.
The company, however, denies altering reports. Officials also accuse 60 Minutes of omitting key facts in their report, including changes made by the company.
“As we told 60 Minutes in a seven-page response to their questions, Heritage made many reforms and improvements following Hurricane Ian two years ago — including overhauling our claims software that now adds the name of any reviewer who works on the claim,” wrote Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance CEO Ernie Garateix. "The accusation by adjusters, via 60 Minutes, that we used ‘altered damaged reports to deceive customers’ is flat wrong.”
DeSantis has yet to take a stance on establishing a statewide grand jury, but said Monday that the Department of Justice is welcome to take action.
"If they're identifying potential criminal activity, we have a Department of Justice in this country ... why not hold the wrongdoer accountable?” he said.