JD Vance Is More Popular Than Tim Walz in Battleground States: Poll

Ohio Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, is more popular than his Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in battleground states, according to a new poll.

A Forbes/HarrisX survey of 1,512 registered voters conducted between October 21 and 22 found that Vance narrowly leads his Democratic counterpart nationally, with a larger margin in battleground states.

In the 2024 presidential election, the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada are hotly contested, with Pennsylvania likely to determine the outcome of the race, given its 19 Electoral College votes.

The recent online survey found that Vance leads Walz in national favorability, 37 percent to 36 percent. Notably, his lead falls within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

However, Vance's net unfavorablility, 43 percent, is higher than Walz's 39 percent. Five percent of respondents said they never heard of Vance, while 9 percent said that of Walz.

Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks to a crowd during a rally at the Berks County Fairgrounds on September 21, 2024, in Leesport, Pennsylvania. A new poll shows which vice presidential... Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

Among the 322 battleground state voters, Vance edges ahead, widening his lead to 41 percent to Walz's 35 percent.

While Vance leads nationally in favorability, former President Donald Trump, who tops the Republican ticket, trails Vice President Kamala Harris in national favorability but leads in battleground states.

The poll found that 45 percent of voters view Trump favorably, compared to 48 percent for Harris nationally. However, in battleground states, Trump leads Harris 46 percent to 44 percent.

Both candidates have the same percentage of voters who view them as "very favorable" nationally at 28 percent, while in battleground states, 24 percent describe Harris that way compared to 33 percent for Trump.

Walz and Vance both have lower favorability ratings than the Democratic and Republican nominees nationally and in battleground states.

The poll also asked respondents about President Joe Biden's favorability, with both Harris and Trump leading Biden nationally and in battleground states. Biden has a 38 percent favorability rating nationally, and 35 percent in battleground states, according to the poll.

Newsweek has reached out to Vance and Walz's campaigns for comment via email on Wednesday afternoon.

The same poll found that Trump has a 1 percentage point lead on Harris in the national election, which is within the poll's margin of error. It also found that Trump has a 7-point lead in battleground states, which are widely believed to determine the election outcome, with 50 percent to Harris' 43 percent. Eight percent of respondents said they were unsure or didn't know.

National aggregate polls consistently show Harris leading Trump by a slim margin. The New York Times aggregate has Harris ahead by 2 percentage points, 49 percent to 47 percent. FiveThirtyEight's data shows a similar lead, with Harris up by 1.8 points, 48.1 percent to Trump's 46.3 percent. Meanwhile, The Hill's aggregate and RealClearPolitics indicate an even tighter race, with Harris holding a lead of less than 1 percentage point, 48.7 percent to 47.8 percent, and by 0.6 percentage points, respectively.