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The newly picked running mate of Vice president Kamal Harris, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, is relatively popular in his home state, but completely obscure to voters nationally, according to surveys.
Mr Walz and Harris are under a tight timeline to familiarize voters with themselves following Harris’ late entrance into the presidential race.
According to Forbes report, a significant share of voters don’t know who Walz is: A July 26-27 ABC/Ipsos poll found 57% said they don’t know who he is, the largest share of any of the nine Democratic VP contenders asked about, while another 29% said they had no opinion of Walz.
Similarly, a NPR/PBS/Marist poll released Tuesday found 71% of voters were unsure who Walz is or never heard of him, compared to 53% who said the same about Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and 52% who said the same about Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., the other two rumored Harris running mate finalists.
Of the three, Walz had the lowest national approval rating (17%) in the NPR/PBS/Marist poll, compared to 25% who viewed Shapiro favorably and 31% who viewed Kelly favorably, though the results were likely skewed by voters’ lack of familiarity with Walz—who also had the lowest unfavorability rating in the poll, at 12%.
Former President Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance had a higher disapproval rating (43%) and a higher approval rating (34%) than Walz, partly because just 23% of Americans were unfamiliar with the Ohio senator, according to the NPR survey.
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Walz is relatively popular in Minnesota, where 56% of respondents polled by SurveyUSA in July said they approve of the job he is doing.
Morning Consult found Walz has an approval rating of 54%, though he’s not among the nation’s top 10 most popular governors.
