If you didn’t hear much about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz before Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate, you’re not alone.
A new national NPR/PBS/Marist Poll released Tuesday, before Harris made her pick, showed 71% of Americans saying they have never heard of Walz or have no opinion about him. Another 17% viewed him favorably, compared to 12% who viewed him negatively.
By comparison, in the same poll, 53% said they had not heard of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — the other leading candidate for Harris’ running mate — while 25% viewed Shapiro favorably, versus 23% who viewed him unfavorably.
That means both parties will be racing to introduce and define Walz in the coming weeks, as many voters will see him for the first time.
Watch live as Harris and her new vice presidential pick prepare for their first rally.
Where Walz is known, he is quite popular. That’s in his home state of Minnesota, according to a recent Morning Consultation Search of the approval ratings of the country’s 50 governors.
In that July Morning Consult poll, 54% of registered voters in Minnesota approved of Walz’s role as governor, while 40% said they disapproved.
By comparison, Shapiro’s approval rating as governor of Pennsylvania was 56% approval and 31% disapproval in the same poll.
A mix of Harris and Trump supporters and undecided voters who spoke to NBC News reporters across the country had never heard of Walz.
“I’m not very informed about him, or anything he’s actually done,” said Rajiv Geffert, a 28-year-old undecided voter from Oak Creek, Wisconsin. “So I definitely have to look into this and, you know, do a little research to be knowledgeable about it.”
Nicola Marshall, a 64-year-old Harris supporter in Arizona, also said she had not heard of Walz.
“I want a good human being as vice president,” Marshall said.
J.D. Vance’s popularity has declined since his selection
Although Walz is not well known nationally, recent polls show that Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has become less popular among the public since being chosen as former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
The same NPR/PBS/Marist poll found that 34% of adults viewed Vance favorably, versus 43% viewed him unfavorably (a net rating of -9 points). A full 23% say they have never heard of Vance or are unsure about him.
This is a decline since July NPR/PBS/Marist Poll – taken shortly after Vance’s selection – which concluded that his rating at that time was 28% favorable and 31% unfavorable (a net rating of minus-3).
A Turbulent Month and a Reboot Race
Harris’ selection of Walz as his running mate is the latest development in this increasingly turbulent presidential race, which in just the last month has seen an assassination attempt on Trump, the Republican convention and President Joe Biden’s departure from the presidential campaign. 2024.
And overall, the 2024 race has reset — from an election that Biden was losing after the debate, to a political environment that has instantly improved for Democrats, while still remaining competitive, according to public polls.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
