Who will be Kamala Harris’ running mate? New poll found one candidate is most popular

Among Democratic officials floated as potential running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly has the highest net favorability rating, according to a new poll.

In the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll, Kelly — a freshman senator and former astronaut — had a 10-point net favorability rating, with 22% of respondents viewing him favorably and 12% viewing him unfavorably. An additional 24% said they had no opinion, and a plurality of 41% said they didn’t know him.

The poll, conducted between July 26 and 27, sampled 1,200 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Eight other Democrats were included in the poll, all of whom had net favorability ratings at least six points lower than Kelly.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg all tied for second place with a four-point net favorability rating.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz each garnered a negative one-point net favorability rating.

And Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom had the lowest collective ratings, receiving a negative five-point and negative 12-point net favorability ratings, respectively, according to the poll.

However, the contenders — save Buttigieg and Newsom — were relatively unknown, with pluralities of respondents saying they were unfamiliar with them.

And measured just by favorability, Buttigieg scored the highest, with 29% of respondents saying they were favorable to him.

The poll also asked respondents about their feelings toward Harris, who became the likely Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her.

A majority of respondents, 52%, said Harris should be the nominee, including 86% of Democrats. Fourteen percent of Democrats, meanwhile, said the party should choose someone else.

Additionally, 88% of Democratic respondents said they are enthusiastic about Harris at the top of the ticket. By comparison, 82% of Republican respondents said they are enthusiastic about former President Donald Trump being the GOP nominee.

The poll comes less than one month before the Democratic National Convention, in which the party will formally nominate its candidates for president and vice president.

This story was originally published July 29, 2024 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Who will be Kamala Harris’ running mate? New poll found one candidate is most popular."