The running mate Kamala must choose to have a chance of beating Trump

Voters have spoken out on who should join Kamala Harris on the Democrat ticket in the same poll that gave the current vice president a significant bump in popularity. 

The ABC News/Ipsos poll found Senator Mark Kelly (pictured left) of Arizona has the highest favorables amongst the contenders.

The same poll has the vice president's favorability sitting at 43 percent – an eight point surge since last weekend, according to ABC News/Ipsos polling which showed Donald Trump under water. 

Kelly, a former astronaut and wife of ex-Congressman and gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, is viewed positively by 22 percent of respondents and negatively by just 12 percent. While a majority either still don't know Kelly or have no opinion of the border state Democrat, he remains better liked than some of his potential VP rivals.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is viewed favorably by the most voters (29 percent) but is viewed negatively (25 percent) by almost as many. Governors Josh Shapiro (pictured left) of Pennsylvania (17 percent favorable, 13 percent unfavorable) and Andy Beshear of Kentucky (13 percent favorable, nine percent unfavorable) are similarly just above water. Harris' fellow Californian Governor Gavin Newsom performed extremely poorly, with 21 percent viewing him positively and 33 percent negatively.

Buttigieg and Newsom remain the only candidates known to majority of the people surveyed. Outside the favorites, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's viral fame has yet to translate into popularity, with just 13 percent of those polled having any opinion of him and just six percent viewing him positively. Roy Cooper of North Carolina (seven percent positive, eight percent negative) and JB Pritzker of Illinois (seven percent positive, 12 percent negative) were similarly unknown to voters. While many believe Harris will chose a man as vice president, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was also tested. She's seen favorably by 20 percent and negatively by 21 percent. Kelly is seen as a potential worry for Republicans, according to Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former spokesperson to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most formidable candidates in the running for vice president, but he noted choosing Kelly would open up a Senate seat in the battleground state of Arizona should Democrats win the election. Harris' favorability jumped eight percent from the same survey a week ago which revealed that 35 percent view Harris favorability and 46 percent see her in a unfavorable light.

Biden announced last Sunday, July 20, that he was ending his reelection bid after weeks of pressure from within his party to step aside. He immediately endorsed his VP to take over. Harris last week earned enough delegates to become the de facto nominee and is campaigning with much of her boss's old team and campaign infrastructure. She hit the campaign trail hard in the week since Biden stepped down with stops in several different states and has taken over some ceremonial presidential duties while Biden recovered from his third bout of COVID-19.

The most important jump in support comes from independent voters, who are vastly important to clinching a victory in November. Now 44 percent of independents have a favorable view of Harris compared to just 28 percent who felt that way just a week prior. Her unfavourability dropped from 47 percent to 40 percent. Donald Trump's favorability rating, meanwhile, dropped slightly from 40 percent to 36 percent in the week following the attempted assassination attempt against him. Among independents, the former president also saw a drop from 35 percent to 27 percent. The new survey suggests that there is more enthusiasm for the vice president's candidacy compared to Trump – 48 percent to 39 percent.

Harris is likely to face-off with Trump in November as no other Democrats are being floated currently to challenge the vice president for the spot with just three weeks until the Democratic National Convention. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed think Harris should be the nominee, according to the poll. And 86 percent of Democrats want to see her leading their ticket. A separate poll also released on Sunday from YouGov/Times of London reveals that 30 percent of voters think Biden should step down now and turn over the rest of his term to Harris. It also found a staggering number of U.S. voters – 92 percent – think Harris was at least partially involved in covering-up the extent of President Biden 's mental decline. The survey of 1,170 voters taken July 22 and 23 asked whether they believed there was an effort to shield Biden's mental health from the public and who was responsible for the cover-up. Fifty-four percent of respondents said there was a cover-up and 30 percent said they don't believe there was one. Sixteen percent aren't sure. The switch-up in the 2024 election has left many with questions over whether there was a plot to keep Biden's cognitive health under wraps and who plotted to keep secret his declining health.

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