Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is less popular among voters than his Democratic rival, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to a new MIT poll. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Both Vance and Walls entered the spotlight this summer as relative political unknowns. As the two candidates prepare to address a large audience in next week’s vice presidential debate, Democrats are more positive about Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris than Republicans are about Vance and former President Donald Trump.
The results of the new poll reinforce the challenge facing the Republican presidential candidate Voting begins In more and more states.
Vance is less popular than Falz
The poll shows that negative sentiment toward Vance is more widespread than positive sentiment. Nearly half of registered voters have a somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable view of Vance About 4 in 10 in late JulyWhile about a quarter have a somewhat or very positive view of it, a similar share don’t know enough to say.
By contrast, Falz is more likable. About 3 in 10 voters have an unfavorable view of Walz, while about 4 in 10 have a favorable opinion and about 3 in 10 don’t know enough to say.
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This difference in preference extends to the candidate bases. About 7 in 10 Democratic voters have a favorable opinion of Walz, compared to about 6 in 10 Republican voters who have a favorable view of Vance.
Waltz is stronger than Vance among men and women
Democratic candidates tend to receive more support from women, while Republicans perform better among men. This gap is clear in Trump and Harris’ favorability numbers — but Waltz is more likable than Vance among men and women.
About 4 in 10 male and female voters have a favorable view of Walz, while about 3 in 10 men and about a quarter of women have a favorable view of Vance.
Walz also has a popularity advantage over Vance among voters over 60. Half of voters in this group view Walz somewhat or very favorably, while about 3 in 10 have a similar opinion of Vance.
Waltz is slightly weaker than Harris among black voters and women
Although he has a strong lead over Vance in some areas, there are also some key Democratic groups where Valz still has ground to run. About three-quarters of black adults have a favorable view of Harris, while about half say the same of Walz. Women also view it more positively. About 3 in 10 women don’t know enough about Walz to have an opinion.
But overall, neither vice presidential candidate outperforms Harris or Trump among key demographic groups, and they remain less popular than the presidential candidates, even among groups that traditionally form part of each party’s base. For example, about a quarter of white voters without a college degree don’t know enough to say about Vance, and about 4 in 10 voters ages 18 to 29 have no opinion of Walz.
This means that their popularity can continue to shift as their national profile rises.
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