Voters have weighed in on who should join Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket in the same poll that significantly boosted the current vice president’s popularity.
The ABC News/Ipsos Poll found that Arizona Senator Mark Kelly received the most votes of all candidates.
The same poll shows the vice president’s approval rating at 43 percent, up eight percentage points from last weekend, according to an 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 only 12 percent.
While the majority still don’t know Kelly or have an opinion about the border state Democrat, he is still more popular than some of his potential rivals for vice president.
With Kamala Harris’ popularity surging since announcing her run for president, voters have been weighing in on the candidates who could replace Harris as vice president.
The same poll asked voters what they thought of the candidates who would join Harris on the ticket, and while many are still somewhat unknown, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (pictured left) is the most favored.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is viewed favorably by most voters (29 percent), but negatively by almost as many voters (25 percent).
Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (17 percent positive, 13 percent negative) and Andy Beshear of Kentucky (13 percent positive, 9 percent negative) are also just above water.
Harris’ fellow California Gov. Gavin Newsom performed particularly poorly, with 21 percent rating him favorably and 33 percent unfavorably.
Buttigieg and Newsom are the only candidates known to a majority of respondents.
Outside of the favorites, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s viral fame has yet to translate into popularity: Only 13 percent of respondents have an opinion of him, and only 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 also unknown to voters.
While many believe Harris will choose a man as vice president, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was also put to the test, with 20 percent favoring her and 21 percent unfavoring her.
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.
According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, the vice president’s approval rating is at 43 percent, up eight percentage points from last weekend, showing that Donald Trump is 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 only 12 percent
Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most likely candidates in the vice presidential race. However, he noted that choosing Kelly would give Democrats a Senate seat in the crucial state of Arizona if they win the election.
Harris’s popularity rose eight points from the same poll a week ago, which found that 35 percent view Harris positively and 46 percent view her negatively.
Biden announced last Sunday, July 20, that he would end his re-election bid after weeks of pressure from within his party to step aside. He immediately threw his support behind his VP to take over.
Harris secured enough delegates last week to become the de facto nominee and is now campaigning with much of her boss’s old team and campaign infrastructure.
She has been hard at work campaigning for a week since Biden left office, visiting several states and taking on some ceremonial presidential duties as Biden recovers from his third bout of COVID-19.
The biggest jump in support comes from independent voters, who are key to a victory in November.
Now, 44 percent of independents have a favorable opinion of Harris, compared to just 28 percent who felt that way a week earlier. Her unfavorability fell to 40 percent from 47 percent.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s approval rating fell slightly from 40 percent to 36 percent in the week following his assassination attempt.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (pictured left) had more positive than negative views, but remains unknown to a large portion of voters
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is viewed favorably by most voters (29 percent), but negatively by almost as many voters (25 percent).
Among independents, the former president also saw a drop from 35 percent to 27 percent.
The new survey found that there is more enthusiasm for the vice presidential candidacy than for Trump: 48 percent versus 39 percent.
Harris will likely face Trump in November, as there are currently no other Democrats in the race to challenge the vice president for the post. The Democratic National Convention is just three weeks away.
According to the poll, 52 percent of respondents think Harris should be the nominee, and 86 percent of Democrats want her to lead their ticket.
A separate poll also released on 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 partly 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 protect Biden’s mental health from the public and who was responsible for the cover-up.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said there was a cover-up, and 30 percent said they don’t believe there was. Sixteen percent aren’t sure.
The change in the 2024 election has many wondering whether there was a conspiracy to keep Biden’s cognitive health a secret and who orchestrated the plot to keep his declining health a secret.