The first vice presidential debate of the 2020 election is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 7. The current vice president – Mike Pence – and Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s pick for vice president, will take the stage in Salt Lake City.
Ahead of the debate, Harris and Pence’s favorability is virtually tied among voters.
According to a recent Economist/YouGov Poll, 29% of voters say they have a very favorable opinion of Kamala Harris, while a quarter (26%) of voters also say they have a very favorable opinion of Mike Pence. An additional 18% of voters say they have a somewhat favorable opinion of Harris, compared to 17% who say they have a somewhat favorable opinion of Pence.
Unsurprisingly, Harris is overwhelmingly popular among Democrats (86% favorable vs. 10% unfavorable), while Republicans have a lot of love for their Vice President (88% favorable vs. 7% unfavorable).
Independents have similar opinions of both vice presidential candidates. One in three Independents (34%) have a favorable opinion of Kamala Harris while 39% have a favorable opinion of Mike Pence.
See the toplines and crosstabs from this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The Economist survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,500 registered voters interviewed online between September 27 – 30, 2020. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote, registration status, geographic region, and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all US citizens. The margin of error is approximately 3.8% for the overall sample.
Image: Getty
