Sonali Ray, writer
Brief news
- A recent national poll showed that the majority of Americans had never heard of Tim Walz or Josh Shapiro, the leading candidates to serve as Kamala Harris’ running mate.
- Walz is relatively well-known in his home state of Minnesota, where he has a 54% approval rating as governor. Shapiro has a 56% approval rating as governor of Pennsylvania.
- JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has experienced a decline in public support since his appointment, with 43% of adults viewing him unfavorably.
Detailed news
Before Harris made her selection, a recent national poll conducted by NPR/PBS/Marist, which was released on Tuesday, indicated that 71% of Americans had never heard of Walz or did not have an opinion of him. Additionally, 17% of respondents held him in a favorable light, while 12% held him in a negative light.
In contrast, 53% of respondents in the identical poll reported that they were unaware of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is the other leading candidate to serve as Harris’ running mate. Shapiro was viewed favorably by 25% of respondents, while 23% disliked him.
This implies that both parties will be rushing to introduce and define Walz in the coming weeks, as many voters will be encountering him for the first time.
Watch as Harris and her new vice president candidate prepare for their inaugural rally in real time.
Walz is relatively well-known in the regions where he is recognized. According to a recent Morning Consult survey of the approval ratings of the nation’s 50 governors, that is in his home state of Minnesota.
In the Morning Consult poll conducted in July, 54% of registered voters in Minnesota expressed their approval of Walz’s performance as governor, while 40% expressed their disapproval.
In contrast, Shapiro’s approval rating as governor of Pennsylvania was 56% approve and 31% disapprove in the same survey.
Walz was mainly unknown to a mixture of Harris and Trump supporters and undecided voters who spoke with NBC News reporters across the country.
Rajiv Geffert, a 28-year-old undecided voter from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, stated, “I am not overly knowledgeable about him or anything he has actually accomplished.” “So I definitely have to look that up and, you know, perform a little bit of a search to get knowledgeable on that.”
Nicola Marshall, a 64-year-old Harris supporter in Arizona, also stated that she was unaware of Walz.
Marshall stated, “I desire a vice president who is a good person.”
Since his appointment.
JD Vance’s influence has fallen
Although Walz is not widely recognized on a national scale, recent polls indicate that Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has experienced a decline in public support since his appointment as former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
The same NPR/PBS/Marist poll revealed that 34% of adults viewed Vance favorably, while 43% viewed him unfavorably, resulting in a net rating of minus-9 points.. A combined 23% of respondents have either never heard of Vance or are uncertain about him.
This is a decrease from the NPR/PBS/Marist poll conducted in July, which found his rating at that time to be 28% favorable and 31% unfavorable (a minus-3 net rating). The poll was conducted immediately following Vance’s selection.
A race that resets and a month that is tumultuous
The most recent development in the increasingly turbulent presidential race is Harris’ selection of Walz as her running companion. In the past month, the race has been marked by an assassination attempt on Trump, the Republican convention, and President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 campaign.
In general, the 2024 election has been re-set. Despite the fact that Biden was underperforming after the debate, the political environment has immediately improved for Democrats. However, the public polling indicates that the contest remains competitive.
