Republican vice presidential wannabe and Ohio Sen. JD Vance edged out his Democratic opponent Tim Walz by just 1 percent in the vice presidential debate in what is being widely viewed as a tie between between the pair.
The first flash poll, conducted by CBS News and YouGov, was released shortly after the debate aired on Tuesday night, with voters rendering a decision of 42 percent to Vance, 41 percent to Walz and a further 17 percent who claimed it was a tie.
The results are in stark contrast to both presidential debates this year, when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump argued Biden out of the race in June, and a subsequently strong showing from Kamala Harris–despite Trump continuing to claim he won. According to CBS, 88 percent of voters believed the debate itself was “generally positive.”
Walz scored a higher rating for sounding “reasonable” during the debate in comparison to Vance’s 65 percent, though Vance walked out of the debate with a more favorable view than what people had of him before his appearance; Vance’s favorable rating improved from 40 percent to 49 percent while Walz’ favorability rose 52 percent to 60 percent.
Walz spoke better than Vance on the issues of abortion (62 percent to 38 percent) and healthcare (59 percent to 41 percent) while Vance gained favorability on the topics of economy and immigration.
The poll, according to CBS, is based on 1630 voters who watched the debate and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. Only those who watched the debate were included in the analysis, YouGov said.
“Neither has yet convinced a majority of voters about an essential part of the job: that they’d be qualified to be president if needed.” CBS wrote.
