A growing percentage of voters in key swing states express confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to serve as president if President Joe Biden cannot complete his term, potentially diminishing a Republican critique concerning Mr. Biden’s age.
A poll conducted by Morning Consult for Bloomberg News earlier this month reveals that nearly half of swing state voters—48 percent—now trust Ms. Harris to assume the presidency if necessary.
These results mark the most positive feedback for Ms. Harris since voters were first polled on their confidence in her last October.
Despite this, Ms. Harris still lags significantly behind her and Mr. Biden’s likely Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump, in a hypothetical matchup. The poll shows Mr. Trump leading Ms. Harris by seven points.
Nonetheless, respondents favor Ms. Harris as their top choice to challenge Mr. Trump if Mr. Biden is unable to complete the 2024 campaign. She is preferred over other potential Democratic candidates such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
Ms. Harris is the first woman, the first African-American, and the first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president.
Initially, her public profile suffered from a series of gaffes and awkward moments, and her policy responsibilities included difficult issues such as addressing the root causes of migration and voting rights.
However, over the past year, the White House and President Biden’s re-election campaign have utilized her in more assertive roles, deploying her to counter Republican initiatives to ban books and restrict reproductive rights.
In April, Shine My Crown reported that a recent poll revealed Vice President Kamala Harris’s popularity is nearly on par with that of Beyoncé. According to the April omnibus survey conducted by Echelon Insight, 43% of voters hold a favorable view of Harris, while 45% feel the same about Beyoncé. Despite this near equivalence, the vice president faces twice as much unfavorable opinion, with 52% compared to Beyoncé’s 26%.
Throughout President Biden’s tenure, Harris, the first female, Black American, and Asian-American vice president, has grappled with fluctuating approval ratings. Despite starting with a 48% approval rating, Harris experienced a decline in mid-September 2021, just eight months into office, and her approval has remained below water since then, according to polling averages from FiveThirtyEight. In March, a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll found only 35% approval for Harris, while a Suffolk University/USAToday survey showed 36% approval, with disapproval ratings at 46% and 52%, respectively.
The latest Echelon poll indicates Harris’s popularity is particularly strong among Black voters, with nearly seven-in-ten viewing her favorably, compared to fewer than half of Hispanic and Asian voters. Among white voters, less than four-in-ten hold favorable views of Harris.
