Voters have weighed in on who should join Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket in the same poll that gave the current vice president a significant boost in popularity.
He ABC News/Ipsos Poll Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona was found to have the highest approval rating among the contenders.
The same poll puts the vice president’s popularity at 43 percent, up eight points from last weekend’s ABC News/Ipsos poll that showed Donald Trump underwater.
Kelly, a former astronaut and wife of former congresswoman and gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, is viewed positively by 22 percent of respondents and negatively by just 12 percent.
While most have yet to meet Kelly or have any opinion of the border-state Democrat, he remains more beloved than some of his potential vice presidential rivals.
With Kamala Harris seeing a significant surge in popularity since announcing she will run for president, voters have offered their opinions on the contenders to replace Harris as vice president.
In that same poll, voters were asked what they thought of the candidates joining Harris on the ticket, and while many remain somewhat unknown, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona (pictured left) has the highest approval ratings.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is viewed favorably by a majority of voters (29 percent), but is viewed negatively (25 percent) by nearly the same number.
Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (17 percent favorable, 13 percent unfavorable) and Andy Beshear of Kentucky (13 percent favorable, nine percent unfavorable) are also just above water.
Harris’ running mate, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, performed extremely poorly: 21 percent viewed him positively and 33 percent viewed him negatively.
Buttigieg and Newsom remain the only candidates known to a majority of respondents.
Outside of the front-runners, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s viral fame has yet to translate into popularity: Only 13 percent of respondents have any opinion of him and just six percent view him positively.
Roy Cooper of North Carolina (seven percent positive, eight percent negative) and JB Pritzker of Illinois (seven percent positive, twelve percent negative) were equally unknown to voters.
While many believe Harris will choose a man as vice president, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also took the test, with 20 percent of respondents giving her a favorable opinion and 21 percent giving her a negative opinion.
According to Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former spokesman for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, Kelly is seen as a potential concern for Republicans.
The vice president’s popularity stands at 43 percent, up eight points since last weekend, according to the ABC News/Ipsos poll that showed Donald Trump underwater.
Kelly, a former astronaut and wife of former congresswoman and gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, is viewed positively by 22 percent of respondents and negatively by just 12 percent.
Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most formidable candidates in the vice presidential race, but noted that choosing Kelly would open up a Senate seat in the swing state of Arizona if Democrats win the election.
Harris’s favorability rating is up eight percent from the same poll a week ago, which found 35 percent view Harris as the favorite and 46 percent view her unfavorably.
Biden announced on Sunday, July 20, that he was ending his reelection campaign after weeks of pressure from within his party to step aside. He immediately endorsed his vice president to take over the role.
Last week, Harris secured enough delegates to become the de facto nominee and is campaigning with much of her boss’s former team and campaign infrastructure.
In the week since Biden resigned, he has been on a campaign trail, making stops in several different states and taking on some ceremonial presidential duties as Biden recovered from his third bout of COVID-19.
The biggest jump in support comes from independent voters, who are critical to a victory in November.
Now, 44 percent of independents have a favorable view of Harris, compared with just 28 percent who thought that way just a week ago. Their unfavorable view dropped from 47 percent to 40 percent.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s approval rating fell slightly from 40 percent to 36 percent in the week following the assassination attempt on him.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (pictured left) had more positive reviews than negative ones, but remains an unknown quantity to much of the electorate.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is viewed favorably by a majority of voters (29 percent), but is viewed negatively (25 percent) by nearly as many.
Among independents, the former president also saw a drop from 35 percent to 27 percent.
The new poll suggests there is more enthusiasm for the vice president’s candidacy compared to Trump’s: 48 percent versus 39 percent.
Harris is likely to face Trump in November, as no other Democrats are currently being considered to challenge the vice president for the post just three weeks before the Democratic National Convention.
According to the poll, 52 percent of respondents believe Harris should be the nominee, and 86 percent of Democrats want to see her at the top of their ticket.
A separate poll also released Sunday by YouGov/Times of London found that 30 percent of voters believe Biden should step down now and hand over the remainder of his term to Harris.
It also found that a staggering number of American voters — 92 percent — think Harris was at least partially involved in covering up the extent of President Biden’s mental decline.
The poll of 1,170 voters conducted July 22-23 asked whether they believed there was an effort to shield Biden’s mental health from the public and who was responsible for the cover-up.
54 percent of respondents said there was a cover-up and 30 percent said they did not believe it. 16 percent were not sure.
The shift in the 2024 election has left many with questions about whether there was a plot to keep Biden’s cognitive health secret and who conspired to keep his declining health a secret.
