Millions of voters will likely be watching when Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, take the stage in New York City on Oct. 1 — exactly five weeks before Election Day but after some states have already started early voting.
It could be the last White House debate of the election cycle, as former President Trump said Thursday afternoon that he doesn’t plan to take part in another after he and Vice President Harris went head-to-head in their first debate this week.
Whether vice presidential running mates have any notable impact on elections is a point of debate, itself. Polls show that few voters have no opinion of Trump eight years after his first presidential campaign, four since his second run and after decades in the public spotlight.
But the Walz versus Vance match up could open opportunities for meme-able moments, viral videos and other campaign intrigue.
Both hail from the Midwest and grew up with humble beginnings. Both easily won their respective statewide elections during the 2022 election cycle. Both have military backgrounds and came onto the scene this summer with relatively low national profiles.
But Walz and Vance’s similarities stretch little beyond that — in substance and style.
Vance, a Marine veteran and author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. A favorite in conservative media circles, he worked as a venture capitalist before winning his first campaign for public office two years ago.
Walz, a plain-spoken graduate of Minnesota State University, spent a decade in Congress before he was elected governor in 2018. He is a former schoolteacher and high school football coach, who served in the National Guard before pursuing politics.
And when they joined their respective tickets this summer, Vance and Walz made very different first impressions on voters.
Polls consistently show more voters dislike Vance than like him — a trend that has held steady since he joined the GOP ticket in July as the least-liked running mate in decades.
Vance’s net popularity has remained underwater — with virtually no narrowing — as voters have gotten to know him. The GOP VP pick is currently polling an average 46.8 percent unfavorable to 39.8 percent favorable. Six national polls in the last two weeks showed his net favorability down double-digits.
Walz has polled more favorably than his Republican counterpart since entering the race last month. Walz has held a steady net favorability rating, currently at 2.7 percentage points with 43.6 percent favorable to 40.9 percent unfavorable, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling tracker.
More than 67 million people tuned in to watch the top-of-the-ticket candidates, Trump and Harris, duke it out this week in their first, and now likely only, debate.
The high-stakes Trump-Harris rendezvous ended with both sides claiming victory, but Trump and some allies have since attacked the moderators. Other allies of the former president have privately conceded that Harris successfully baited him into going off topic with digs at his rally crowds, how he’s viewed among world leaders and his loss in the 2020 presidential race.
