Anika Begay
Vice President Harris disembarks from Air Force 2 upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, August 1.
Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Of the candidates rumored to be among the three finalists for Vice President Harris’ race, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly has the highest approval rating, but half say they are unsure or have no opinion about him either, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
Kelly gets a 31% favorable rating, while 18% have an unfavorable one. However, 52% said they were unsure or had never heard of him.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely considered a finalist for the job, has a favorable-unfavorable rating of 25%-23%, with 53% undecided.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a favorite of progressives on Capitol Hill, is largely unknown: 71% say they have no opinion of him right now.
Harris is expected to make her selection Tuesday and hold an event with her VP pick in Philadelphia Tuesday night. The two will then continue a seven-state tour of the most closely watched swing states.
Where name recognition helps
Kelly, an astronaut married to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in a mass shooting, could benefit from a little more notoriety.
“Sometimes it’s had more national coverage, while other times it’s been more regional,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll of 1,613 adults.
The poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points, meaning the results could be about 3 points higher or lower. Respondents were contacted via cell phone, landline, or online research panels in English and Spanish.
Notably, Kelly is viewed 15 points more favorably than Shapiro among Democrats and 9 points higher among independents. In a Marist poll conducted last month, Shapiro was slightly more popular among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents than Kelly, and the overall frontrunners by a small margin among the group at that time were Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Shapiro faced more scrutiny than other candidates last week, particularly from progressives, some of whom see him as too moderate. But presidential elections are about balance, and Shapiro’s perceived moderateness will likely be seen as a positive trait for Harris, given her need to win over swing voters.
The Democratic vice presidential chances are all viewed more favorably than former President Donald Trump’s pick, J.D. Vance. Only 34% of national adults have a favorable view of him, while 43% have an unfavorable view. That includes a majority of independents, 55%, who said they had an unfavorable view of Vance. Only two-thirds of Republicans have a favorable view.
Harris’ image improves
Despite all the talk about Harris’ potential running mate, the most important people on the list are at the top. And in the latest Marist poll, Harris’s rating has improved from 40% favorable, 44% unfavorable to 46% favorable, 48% unfavorable.
While still slightly underwater, it’s higher than Trump sentiment: 53% now say they have an unfavorable view of the former president, while just 44% have a favorable one. That 53% unfavorable rating is 4 points higher than last month’s Marist poll, conducted in the aftermath of the Republican National Convention and the assassination attempt on his life. It’s roughly where Trump sentiment has been for years.
