‘He’s been a drag’: JD Vance’s unpopularity is unprecedented, polling expert says ahead of debate

While Vance is deeply unpopular, Governor Tim Walz has a plus-four net favorability rating, making him more popular than Trump and Harris

If the 2024 presidential election boils down to a popularity contest, Senator JD Vance may be in trouble.

The Republican vice presidential candidate is currently suffering from a negative-11 favorability rating, according to polling reviewed by CNN’s Harry Enten.

During a recent segment on the network, Enten discussed the gulf between Vance’s dismal likability scores and those of his Democratic challenger, Governor Tim Walz, who enjoys a plus four favorability rating in the same poll. The two candidates will face off on Tuesday night for the vice presidential debate.

“Oy vey, when it comes to JD Vance,” Enten said. “This is the net favorable ratings. Look at that minus-11 points for JD Vance — no bueno. Let’s jump to the other side of the screen. Tim Walz, look at that, a plus-four net favorability rating, the highest of any of these four folks on the screen.”

The other two “folks on the screen” were Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Harris has a plus one favorability rating and Trump has a minus-nine — not great, but better than his running mate.

Enten said Vance’s stark lack of popularity is likely actively damaging the Republican 2024 ticket.

“Right now, the Democrats are better liked than the Republicans, but Walz is slightly better liked than Kamala Harris,” he said. “JD Vance has actually, if anything, been a drag on the Republican side of the ticket, while Tim Walz has actually, if anything, helped Kamala Harris up a little bit.”

He said that the “bottom line” was that “negative-11 points is no good,” and was impressed by Walz’s score in the current highly-polarized US political landscape.

According to Enten, the only other vice presidential candidate to score in Vance’s range was Dan Quayle.

“The only other person in negative net favorability territory is Dan Quayle back in 1988 with a minus-three point net favorability rating,” he said. “If you know anything about VPs and the way that folks view them you do not want to be in the company of Dan Quayle.”

Vance was never very popular with voters; three days after Trump announced him as his running mate, Vance had a minus-three point net favorability rating — the same as Quayle’s — and his insulting comments and strange interactions with voters appear to have only tanked his likability since.