As Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz prepares to officially introduce himself Wednesday night to the nation, Democratic voters feel good about it Kamala Harrisselection of him as her vice-presidential candidate. Sixty percent of Democrats say they are enthusiastic about the election, and nearly all are at least satisfied.
The enthusiasm for Walz closely matches the enthusiasm that was met Harris when she was selected as Joe Biden’s running mate four years ago. Just before the August 2020 Democratic National Convention, 58% of Democratic voters said they were enthusiastic about her election.
Enthusiasm for Waltz among Democrats is higher than Republican enthusiasm for Sen. JD Vance, who was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running buddy in July during the Republican Convention. Then, 51% of Republican voters said they were enthusiastic about Vance (although almost all were at least satisfied).
How do the voters see Walz?
Voters see both Harris and Walz as politically liberal, but there are differences in how the ticket is viewed, compared to whether voters are inside or outside the Democratic Party. Voters across the country tend to see them both as more liberal than members of their own party do.
Democratic voters tend to agree that Walz, like Harris, will fight hard for people like them, and the more liberal Democratic voters are, the more likely they are to feel this way.
But will Walz’s choice as Harris’ running mate matter when voters make their voting decisions? Harris voters say it does — at least somewhat — although only a quarter say his election is a major factor in their vote.
This CBS News/YouGov poll was conducted with a representative sample of 3,258 registered voters nationwide who were interviewed between August 14-16, 2024. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race and education based on the US Census American Community Survey and the US Census Current Population Survey, as well as previous votes. The respondents were selected to be representative of registered voters throughout the country. The margin of error for registered voters is ±2.1 points.