Many registered voters had a positive reaction Tuesday to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' choice of running mate, Tim Walz. 35% of voters say Walz is either a good pick or the best possible pick Harris could have made, while just 16% say it was a bad pick or the worst possible pick. Another 35% aren't sure.
Democrats in particular are enthusiastic about Walz (61% say he is a good or the best choice, 2% say bad or the worst). More Independents say it was a good or the best choice (29%) than bad or the worst (15%). Republicans have more negative views of the pick (12% good or best, 34% bad or worst), but 40% of Republicans aren't sure.
Overall, 45% don't know enough about Walz to say if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about him. 35% have a very or somewhat favorable opinion about him, while 20% have a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion. 62% of Democrats have a positive opinion of Walz, compared to 5% with a negative opinion and 33% who don't know.
Walz is broadly popular among Democrats. Overall Democrats are 58 percentage points more likely to have a favorable opinion about Walz than an unfavorable opinion, rates that are similar among Democrats who are younger or older, male or female, or from different parts of the country. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, is slightly better-liked among Democrats from the Northeast and West than he is among Midwestern Democrats.
Younger Republicans and Independents have more positive views of Walz than do older Republicans and Independents, though this is partly due to younger Americans being much less likely to follow political news closely.
In a YouGov poll conducted in late July prior to Walz being announced as Harris' running mate, 70% of registered voters had no opinion about Walz. A different poll taken in the hours after his selection as Harris' running mate found far fewer — 45% — with no opinion.
Many of those new opinions about Walz are positive. In the pre-announcement poll, 16% of registered voters had a favorable opinion of him, and 14% had an unfavorable opinion. In the post-announcement poll, 35% had a favorable opinion of Walz — a 19 percentage point increase — while the share with an unfavorable opinion was up 6 percentage points to 20%.
Walz's rise in popularity after being plucked to join the national ticket isn't unusual. Republican nominee Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, also saw an increase in his favorable ratings immediately after being chosen.
Walz's net favorability — that is the share of votes who view him favorably minus the share who view him unfavorably — increased 14 points after he was announced as Harris' nominee, from +1 to +15. Vance's net favorability increased 10 points after he was announced as Trump's nominee, from -10 to +1.
Walz was a less popular vice presidential pick before being chosen than several other better-known Democrats, such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
— Taylor Orth contributed to this article
See the results for this poll:
- Was Kamala Harris's pick of Tim Walz as her running mate...?
- Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of Tim Walz?
- How important will the presidential candidates’ choice of running mates be in your vote for president this year?
Methodology: This Daily Questions survey was conducted online on August 6, 2024 among 3,003 U.S. adults. The samples were weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party. The margin of error is approximately 2.5%.
Image: Getty (Andrew Harnik)
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