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Harris Tops Democrats’ List of VP Hopefuls

After last week’s flap over Joe Biden’s black voter comment, Kamala Harris has edged ahead among her fellow Democrats on a list of the party’s top potential vice presidential candidates.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 60% of Likely Democratic Voters still feel it is important for Biden’s running mate to be a woman or a person of color, with 30% who say it’s Very Important. This compares to 61% and 35% respectively six weeks ago. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Among women, 48% now say it’s important, with 22% who consider it Very Important. Fifty-five percent (55%) of blacks think it’s important for a woman or person of color to be on the ticket if Biden is the nominee, including 29% who say it’s Very Important.

In mid-April, there was no clear favorite among Democrats when given a list of seven top vice presidential possibilities. Bernie Sanders led the pack with 15% support, but Harris (14%), a U.S. senator from California, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (13%) were statistically right with him. All three had challenged Biden unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination.

But now Harris tops the list of vice presidential hopefuls with 18% support among Democrats. Warren is second with 17%, followed by Sanders (14%) and unsuccessful Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (12%). Billionaire Michael Bloomberg (8%), Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (8%) and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (6%) remain in single digits. Nine percent (9%) of Democrats like some other candidate.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted May 26-27, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

One-in-four black voters agree with Biden that a black voter who chooses Donald Trump over Biden is not really black. Biden later apologized for the controversial on-air statement and retracted it.

Among all likely voters, just 42% think it is important for Biden’s running mate to be a woman or person of color, with 21% who say it’s Very Important. There’s little difference of opinion among all voters when given this list of seven vice presidential hopefuls, but 20% like someone else.

Those under 40 place more importance on a vice presidential candidate who is a woman or person of color than their elders do. These younger voters also remain bigger supporters of Sanders than anyone else.

One-quarter or more of voters 40 and over prefer someone other than these seven on the ticket with Biden.

Bloomberg, Abrams and Harris run strongest among black voters. Whites are more likely to opt for someone else than any of the seven. Other minority voters like Sanders and Harris best.

Among voters who feel it is Very Important for a woman or person of color to be Biden’s running mate, Harris (26%), Abrams (21%) and Warren (21%) are the clear favorites.

Biden still bests President Trump in a head-to-head matchup, perhaps in part because voters express slightly more confidence in the likely Democratic nominee to handle the post-coronavirus economy.

There’s a lot more voter excitement about a Trump-Biden matchup this fall compared to the last two presidential elections, especially among Republicans.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted May 26-27, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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