Topline
Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has struggled in polls since he was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, with much of the country still viewing him as unfavorable or not knowing him, according to a series of surveys after the Republican National Convention.
Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has seen favorability ratings increase following … [+]
Key Facts
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Monday and Tuesday found a slight shift in Vance’s favorability numbers, with 32% of respondents thinking of him favorably compared to 24% the prior week, though his unfavorability also increased, jumping from 30% to 39%.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll conducted Monday asking whether registered voters found Vance favorable or unfavorable found more (36%) were unsure or had not heard of him—though numbers were different along party lines, with 51% of Democrats finding him unfavorable compared to 11% of Republicans, and 57% of Republicans finding him favorable compared to 18% of Democrats.
A Monday-Tuesday CNN poll compared Vance’s favorability to what it was among registered voters in late June—before the convention—and found his favorability jumped from 13% to 28% while his unfavorability jumped from 20% to 34% and the amount of respondents who had never heard of him fell from 51% to 16%.
A YouGov poll conducted Sunday through Tuesday was the most thorough in its questions about Vance, asking whether people found him favorable, thought he was a good choice, helped Trump’s chances of winning, was qualified to be president and what people interpreted his ideology as (70% thought he was conservative or moderate).
Among Republicans, Vance had a 75% favorability rating and 61% thought he was qualified to be president, while 74% thought he was either a very good choice or somewhat good choice for Trump’s running mate.
Democrats expectedly felt different about Vance: they gave him an 8% favorability rating, just 15% thought he was a good choice for Trump’s running mate and 7% thought he’s qualified to be president.
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Surprising Fact
Vance’s CNN polling numbers showed he is the least liked non-incumbent vice presidential nominee after the party’s convention since 1980, and is the first to have a net negative favorable rating (-6).
Big Number
58%. That’s how many Republican respondents in the YouGov poll felt Vance helped Trump’s chances of winning the election—compared to 16% of Democrats—and 27% thought he made no difference. Just 3% of Republican respondents thought Vance hurt Trump’s chances, compared to 20% of Democrats.
Key Background
Trump announced Vance as his running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention, saying in a post on Truth Social he believed Vance was “the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.” Trump had reportedly been considering a number of other vice presidential options, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Vance, 39, is still relatively new to politics: He was elected to the Senate in 2022—after receiving Trump’s endorsement—but rose to fame in 2016 after he published his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Prior to his senatorial run, Vance was a critic of Trump who said he didn’t vote for him in 2016 and once said in a New York Times opinion piece Trump was “unfit for our nation’s highest office.” In 2021, however, Vance said he was “wrong about” Trump and that he regretted the critical things he said. Since then, Vance has been a Trump-backing firebrand in the Senate, promoting ideas of election fraud, advocating for anti-abortion legislation and opposing continued funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Further Reading
Israel and Hamas. Previously, she has covered a range of topics from Donald Trump’s legal battles to Taylor Swift’s path to becoming a billionaire. She joined Forbes in April 2022 and is based in Colorado. Prior to joining Forbes, Bohannon covered local news and spent time at the Fort Collins Coloradoan and the Arizona Republic. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Creighton University and has an MA in investigative journalism from Arizona State. Follow Bohannon for continued coverage of pop culture, politics and updates on the war in Gaza.
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