Vice President Kamala Harris’ approval rating with the public jumped by nearly eight points compared to a week ago after President Biden withdrew from the race, a new poll revealed.
Harris’ favorability rating now sits at 43% to 42% favorable to unfavorable, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll. Last Sunday, that same poll pegged her with a 35% to 46% favorable to unfavorable rating.
Driving that more favorable outlook appears to be independent voters who now favor her 44% to 40%. Those voters were at 28% favorable to 47% unfavorable in last week’s poll.
Polling across the board has generally shown a tightening in the race between the presumptive Democratic nominee and former President Donald Trump, 78, compared to the Trump v. Biden matchup. But it is early.
Meanwhile, Trump’s favorability took a dip and now clocks in at 36% favorable to 52% unfavorable. It was previously at 40% favorable to 51% unfavorable in last week’s poll.
Biden’s favorability rating came in at 37% favorable to 50% unfavorable, which is an improvement from the week before when it sat at 32% favorable to 55% unfavorable respectively.
Harris’ campaign has crowed about a spike in momentum in the wake of her abrupt ascension to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Her team claims to have raked in $200 million in fundraising in less than the first week of her ascension.
Early polling suggests that she still trails Trump, but the race is growing closer. Trump has a 1.8 percentage point lead over Harris, 59, in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling for a national five-way contest.
The ABCNews/Ipsos poll also gauged favorability ratings for Harris’ potential running mates.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear scored 13% favorable to 9% unfavorable, with 77% having no opinion or unsure; California Gov. Gavin Newson (21%, 33%, 45%), Josh Shapiro (17%, 13%, 68%), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (20%, 21%, 57%), North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (7%, 8%, 84%), Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (22%, 12%, 65%) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (6%, 7%, 86%).
Harris is expected to make her decision within less than two weeks given the timeline until the Democrats’ planned virtual roll call to officially crown her the presidential nominee.
Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance had a 24% favorable rating to 39% unfavorable — with 36% having no opinion or indicating they don’t know enough about him.
The newly rebranded Harris for president campaign has taken aim at Vance and sought to sully his image in the public eye and use him as a cudgel against Trump given that he is less known than the 45th president.
The ABC News/Ipsos survey sampled 1,200 adults nationally between July 26-27 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points in the full sample.
