WASHINGTON (AP) — Sens. Tim Walz and J.D. Vance have emerged from national obscurity in a desperate bid to make themselves known at home, but the Ohio senator is off to a tougher start than the Minnesota governor.
Public opinion poll Associated Press-NORC Public Policy Research Center According to the poll, Waltz’s start as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate has been smoother than former President Donald Trump’s Vance. About one-third (36%) of U.S. adults have a favorable impression of Waltz, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday and introduced himself to the party. About one-quarter (27%) have a positive opinion of Vance. Also, significantly more adults have an unfavorable impression of Vance than Waltz, 44% to 25%.
Both men have been well-received so far within their respective parties, but independents are slightly more likely to have a favorable view of Walz than Vance, though most still don’t know much about either man.
Both running mates need to work on becoming better known — about 4 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about Waltz to form an opinion about him, and about 3 in 10 don’t know enough about Vance — but both are much better known than they were before they were chosen as running mates.
Democrats like Walz, but many key groups aren’t fully informed.
As Walz prepares to speak at the convention, about 60% of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of him, including about 40% who say they have a “very favorable” opinion. About 30% don’t know him well enough to have an opinion. This is the first AP-NORC poll to measure Walz’s favorability rating. But other polls Prior to his selection, he was virtually unknown nationally.
Many in the core Democratic coalition still don’t know much about Walz. About 4 in 10 women don’t know enough about him to form an opinion about him, and about 4 in 10 people under 45 say the same. About half of black adults and about 4 in 10 Hispanic adults also don’t know enough about him to know whether they like him. Many low-income adults and those without college degrees also don’t have an opinion about Walz.
AP VoteCast Data The survey results suggest that Waltz would win the 2022 gubernatorial election with support from women, younger voters, union households, suburbanites and urban residents. He split support among white voters and men, two groups that are threatening to undermine Trump’s lead in both the Harris-Waltz campaigns. He lost support among the state’s rural voters and households with veterans.
Samantha Phillis, a 33-year-old visiting nurse and mother of four from Mankato, Minnesota, has known Walz for years. She attended Mankato West High School when Walz was a teacher there and was part of the Gay-Straight Alliance when he was a faculty adviser. She says his policies have been “wonderful” for her three children with disabilities since he became governor. As a parent, she is grateful for his program that provides free school meals for her children.
“He’s a great asset to Mankato West and we’re big fans of his. As far as Minnesota goes, he’s done great things for my family,” Phyllis said. “I’m excited to see how he’ll support Kamala Harris as vice president.”
Phyllis said she always intended to vote for the Democratic candidate, but is excited by the energy and momentum Walz has brought to the campaign.
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“Governor Walz has decided to run, and I fully support him.”
Vance’s approval rating rises among Republicans
In the weeks since Vance was selected as Trump’s running mate, Republicans have become more familiar with him and have developed a generally favorable view of him, according to a new AP-NORC poll. About 60% of Republicans now have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of Vance, a sharp increase since a mid-July poll before the Ohio senator was selected as the running mate. Announced as Trump’s running mateThe poll found that only about three in 10 people have a favorable view of Vance, and six in 10 Republicans said they didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
The latest polls show that about two in 10 Republicans have an unfavorable view of Vance, and about a quarter say they don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
Adults over 45 are slightly more likely to have a positive opinion of Vance than younger adults, 32% to 22%.
Vance, who will run for the Senate in Ohio in 2022, won the support of many of the groups that make up the backbone of Trump’s political base, according to AP VoteCast data. About 6 in 10 male voters in the state backed him, as did voters over 45. He also had an advantage among younger men compared to Republicans nationally. About 6 in 10 male voters under 30 voted for Vance in Ohio, compared to roughly half of the Republican candidates nationwide.
Mary Lynch, a 62-year-old Republican from Marquette, Michigan, said she had been following Vance through his television interviews since before he ran for Senate. She said the more she learned about him, the more favorably she felt about him. She admires his support for family-related policies, including anti-abortion and school choice.
Lynch supported Republican Nikki Haley in the Republican primary but plans to vote for Trump in November. She likes his policies but has issues with his personality. She sees Vance as a strong future leader for the Republican Party.
“I really like (Vance’s) personality. He says things gently. He doesn’t use hyperbole,” Lynch said. “If Trump wins with J.D. Vance, I would love to see J.D. Vance run for president again.”
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The poll was conducted Aug. 8-12, 2024 among 1,164 adults using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
