Several opinion polls came out in the hours after Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. They ultimately gave the same answer on whether JD Vance or Tim Walz won the debate.
Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz met on Tuesday for what will likely be their only debate prior to next month’s presidential election. Based on polling immediately following Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, there was no clear winner.
CBS News poll
A poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov had no clear winner as 42% of respondents said Vance won the debate, while 41% said Walz had won. The poll had a 2.7% margin of error.
Among debate watchers, 17% said the debate was a tie.
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An overwhelming majority of viewers said that the tone of the debate was generally positive. The poll found that 88% found the tone was positive, while 12% said it was negative.
The poll also discovered that 74% of debate watchers thought Walz sounded reasonable, while 26% said he sounded extreme. For Vance, 65% of debate viewers said he was reasonable, while 35% thought he was extreme.
CNN poll
Like CBS’ poll, CNN’s survey was within the margin of error. According to the poll, 51% of respondents said Vance was the winner of the debate, while 49% thought Walz won.
In both polls, more voters came away with positive opinions of the candidates.
Walz’s favorability rating went from 46% before the debate to 59%. Vance’s favorability improved from 30% to 41%.
Politico poll
Politco’s poll was as evenly divided as you can get: 50/50. Respondents also were evenly split on whether Vance or Walz would be a better vice president.
Does winning the vice presidential debate matter?
Perhaps a vice presidential debate is not the most consequential night in the presidential election, but history has favored the candidate who wins the debate.
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According to CNN, Kamala Harris outperformed Mike Pence before she and Joe Biden won the 2020 election. In 2016, Pence performed better than Democrat Tim Kaine before he and Donald Trump won the 2016 election.
In 2012, Tim Ryan slightly performed better than Biden before he and Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election to Biden and Barack Obama. In 2008, Biden soundly won the debate against Republican Sarah Palin before he and Obama defeated Palin and John McCain that November.
Who won last month’s presidential debate?
In polling conducted by CNN, 63% of presidential debate watchers said Harris won, compared to 37% who thought Trump won. Before the debate, respondents were evenly split on who they thought would perform better.
Meanwhile, a YouGov poll taken after the debate showed 43% thought Harris won the debate, versus 28% who said Trump, while 30% said unsure.