What did viewers think of the Walz-Vance VP debate? What new polls have shown

There was no decisive winner of the first and only vice presidential debate before the 2024 election, new polls show.

Following the 90-minute debate — which took place on Oct. 1 in New York City — both Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance saw boosts in their favorability, and both were viewed as victorious by members of their party.

However, there were some clear differences on certain points, including on which candidate better defended their running mate.

Here’s a breakdown of three post-debate polls.

CNN

A CNN instant poll found both men substantially increased their favorability among registered voters, with Walz slightly edging out Vance.

Walz’s net favorability increased by 23 points from a pre-debate poll, bringing it to +37%, while Vance’s increased by 19 points, bringing it to -3%.

After the debate, more voters also viewed both men as qualified to serve as president than before.

Sixty-five percent said Walz was qualified to be president, compared to 62% who said the same in a pre-debate poll. Similarly, 58% said Vance was equipped to be president, while 50% said the same in a pre-debate poll.

In the latest poll, 37% of voters said Vance did a better job defending his running mate, while 33% said the same for Walz.

And when asked which candidate more closely shares their vision for America, 48% of voters said Walz, while 39% said Vance.

The poll, conducted for CNN by SSRS, sampled 574 registered voters and has a margin of error of 5.3 percentage points.

CBS News

In a CBS News poll, likely voters were almost evenly split down the middle when asked which candidate won.

Forty-two percent said Vance won, while 41% said Walz was victorious and 17% thought it was a tie.

Both men also saw roughly the same size increase in their favorability ratings compared to pre-debate polls, with Walz’s jumping 8 points to 60% and Vance’s increasing 9 points to 49%.

A slightly larger share said Walz was prepared to be president than Vance — 60% versus 55%.

Voters were split 50-50 over whether Vance or Walz did a better job talking about the conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Vance had a slight edge on immigration and the economy, while Walz had a larger advantage on health care and abortion.

The poll, conducted with YouGov, sampled 1,630 likely voters, and it has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.

Politico

A Politico poll similarly found that Americans were closely divided over which candidate won the debate.

Seventy-two percent of Democrats said Walz won, while just 5% said Vance won. Meanwhile, 71% of Republicans said they believed Vance won, while 4% said the same of Walz.

However, Walz had a sizable advantage among independents, with 58% of them saying he won, while 42% said Vance had the edge.

When asked which candidate would make a better vice president, the breakdown was similarly divided along partisan lines.

Ninety-two percent of Democrats said Walz would be better, while 5% said Vance and 3% said they didn’t know. And among Republicans, 91% said Vance would be better, while 5% said Walz would and 4% said they didn’t know.

The poll, conducted with Focaldata, sampled 902 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 11:12 AM with the headline "What did viewers think of the Walz-Vance VP debate? What new polls have shown."