A majority of Americans had never heard of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz before Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, according to a new poll.
71% of those surveyed said they didn’t know enough about Waltz to form a good or bad impression of him. NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll It was published on Tuesday.
In contrast, 17% of those surveyed have a favorable opinion of Midwestern governors, while 12% have an unfavorable view, the survey found.
The poll, conducted last week, was released just hours before Harris, 59, revealed she had chosen Waltz, 60, as her Democratic presidential nominee.
The poll found that other potential candidates who could have been chosen as Harris’ second choice, such as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, are better known among Americans.
Still, the poll found that 52% of respondents did not know Kelly’s name and 53% did not know who Shapiro was.
Walz, a darling of the far-left, suddenly emerged as a dark horse candidate to be Harris’ running mate last week, garnering national attention.
He reportedly gained Harris’s attention by leading a campaign to defend her against “bizarre” criticism from former President Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.
Before entering politics, the Governor served in the Army National Guard for 24 years and was a high school teacher.
He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years before running for governor in 2018.
The NPR/PBS/Marist poll, conducted Aug. 1-4 among 1,613 adults, has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
