JD Vance’s favorability has gone up in a new poll, showing a “significant improvement” in his image.
Donald Trump’s running mate has faced a difficult time in the polls since he entered the race in July, performing badly
But new research, carried out by Morning Consult, shows that voters are now only two points more likely to have unfavorable than favorable views of the Ohio Senator.
The most recent survey, carried out between August 16 and 18, among 2,202 registered voters, found that 41 percent had an unfavorable opinion of Vance and 39 percent had a favorable one.
This is a big change from the fall in Vance’s net favorability from -1 to -13 Morning Consult recorded during the rollout of his candidacy. Researchers disclaim that there is a +/- 2 percentage point margin of error.
Newsweek has contacted Vance’s team for comment via email.
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Vance’s net -2 favorability score compares to Democratic counterpart Tim Walz‘s score of 5, from a 39 percent favorability rating for the Minnesota governor, and 36 percent unfavorable.
Meanwhile, 50 percent had a favorable view of Kamala Harris and 45 percent unfavorable, giving her a net figure of 5, with 46 percent behind Trump and 51 percent against, giving him -5 net.
Morning Consult’s analysis of these results said: “Before she ascended to the top of the ticket, sentiment about Harris had tracked closely with views about Biden.
“But since securing presumptive status as the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has become significantly more popular than Biden, Trump and her partisan compatriots in Congress.”
Over the weekend, FiveThirtyEight’s polling tracker found that Vance was less popular than Sarah Pallin, who had a disastrous fall in popularity when running alongside John McCain, peaking at +21 favorability in August 2008, before ultimately plummeting by 23 percent.
As of last Saturday, no poll had shown he has a positive approval rating since before July 19, according to FiveThirtyEight, with polls putting his favorability/unfavorability rating at between -1 and -17.
The only VP choice who was more unpopular than Palin was Hillary Clinton‘s running mate Tim Kaine, whose net favorability was at just -4 percent on Election Day in 2016, substantially lower than Republican VP Mike Pence, who had a +5 favorability rating.
Vance has faced multiple controversies since Trump revealed him as his running mate, with clips resurfacing of his comments about women, abortion and calling Democratic figures “a bunch of childless cat ladies”
He has since defended the comments, saying that the media and Democrats have twisted his words.
Vance, who has previously said he would support a nationwide ban on abortion, has also fallen in line with Trump’s abortion policy, letting states make their own decisions about restrictions on the procedure.