Vice President Kamala Harris’ new running mate has a name recognition problem.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been selected to run alongside Harris, the vice president announced Tuesday morning, and will appear for the first time with the presidential candidate at a rally in Philadelphia later in the event.
But Americans’ awareness of Walz and his favorability rating are far lower than those of Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
Additionally, Walz, 60, has received some criticism for appearing older than his age.
But the governor said in X that this is because he went bald after “supervising the dining room for 20 years.”
Harris, 59, narrowed her list of running mates to just three white, male politicians earlier this week and was considering adding Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has extremely low name recognition, a new poll reveals, as Vice President Kamala Harris chose the progressive governor as her running mate
Meanwhile, many more Americans know the name of Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
But a national NPR/PBS News/Marist poll reveals that despite their choice of Walz, a whopping 71 percent of Americans have either never heard of him or don’t know how to rate the progressive governor.
Only 17 percent of Americans surveyed have a favorable opinion of Walz and 12 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.
Meanwhile, Senator Kelly and Governor Shapiro have greater name recognition and much greater popularity.
Vance is much better known to Americans, according to the poll conducted in early August and released Tuesday.
Only 23 percent of respondents don’t know who Vance is or don’t know whether they would rate him favorably or unfavorably.
Despite serving in the Senate only since last year, Vance gained name recognition through his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which was adapted into a Netflix film starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close as the senator’s mother and grandmother.
Vance has a 34 percent approval rating, but more people (43 percent) view him negatively in the new Marist poll.
Some Democrats had hoped Harris would pick a No. 2 from a key swing state, such as Shapiro in Pennsylvania or Kelly in Arizona, to help secure a critical state to win in November.
Sen. JD Vance holds a news conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before Harris and Walz appear in the city for their first joint campaign rally.
Harris announced Tuesday that she has chosen Walz as her vice presidential nominee.
Shapiro has a 25 percent approval rating and a 23 percent unfavorability rating, while 53 percent of respondents said they had never heard of him or were unsure how they would rate him.
And Kelly had the highest favorability among Democratic vice presidential candidates at 31 percent, compared with just 18 percent unfavorability for the former astronaut.
But still, Senator Kelly does not have enough name recognition or impact to warrant the opinion of 52 percent of those surveyed.
Democrats hope Walz will appeal to voters in Midwestern battleground states.
But Minnesota, though a Midwestern state, is not viewed the same as other key states in the region like Michigan and Wisconsin because it leans more left, especially in the 2020 election.