Vice President Kamala Harris is recording strong net favorable ratings now that she is the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, whereas Donald Trump‘s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, continues to struggle, according to a poll.
A Mainstreet Research and Florida Atlantic University survey of 997 registered voters found that 53 percent said they had a “strongly favorable” or “somewhat favorable” view of Harris, compared to 44 percent who held a “strongly unfavorable” or “somewhat unfavorable” view of her.
In comparison, Vance recorded a net negative favorable rating among voters, with 44 percent saying they held a “strongly unfavorable” or “somewhat unfavorable” view of the potential Republican vice president and 41 percent saying they held a “strongly favorable” or “somewhat favorable” view.
The poll results show a stark contrast in the Democratic and Republican campaigns since President Joe Biden pulled out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris as his party’s nominee. Since then, Harris, 59, has been buoyed by waves of enthusiasm for her White House bid, and multiple polls now suggest she is beating Trump—who, at 78 years old, is the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history.
Harry Enten, CNN‘s senior political data reporter, previously said Vance is also a “historically unpopular” running mate choice, after the senator received the lowest recorded net favorable rating for a vice presidential nominee coming out of a convention since 1980.
Elsewhere, the Mainstreet Research/FAU poll found that Harris was the preferred candidate among likely voters in a head-to-head race against Trump, with the vice president leading 48 percent to 46 percent.
Harris also beat Trump among likely voters by 1 point—44 percent to 43 percent—when independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who received 9 percent of the vote, was included in the poll.
Vance’s net favorable rating of -3 points arrives amid continued scrutiny of his past comments about women, abortion and people without children.
There have even been suggestions, which have frequently been dismissed by Trump’s team, that the former president may try to swap out his running mate to improve his chances of beating Harris in November.
Newsweek has contacted Harris’ and Trump’s campaign teams for comment via email.
The Mainstreet Research/FAU poll is not the only recent survey that shows voters are starting to view Harris more favorably since she launched her 2024 White House bid, while they disapprove of Vance.
An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,429 registered voters found that 51 percent held an unfavorable view of Harris, compared to 47 percent who viewed her favorably.
However, these results showed that Harris’ unfavorable rating has fallen by 3 points, while her favorable rating increased by 4 points, since a previous poll released on July 23, days after Biden ended his reelection campaign.
The same poll showed Vance with a net favorable rating of -10 points. There was also a 5-point increase in the percentage of people who believed Vance was not qualified to be president, 43 percent compared to 38 percent in the previous poll. Also, fewer believed he was qualified, 25 percent compared to the previous 29 percent.
The Mainstreet Research/FAU poll was conducted between July 26 and 27. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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