JD Vance’s approval rating worst among baby boomers

More than half of older voters, the so-called baby boom generation, have a negative opinion of JD Vance, the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, a poll shows.

The Big Village poll of 1,001 adults found that 40.5 percent have an unfavorable view of vice presidential candidate Donald Trump, while 37.7 percent have a favorable view of him, giving the Ohio senator a net approval rating of minus 2.8 percent.

When broken down further, the survey shows that those aged 59 to 77 are the demographic group that has the worst opinion (52.2 percent) of Vance, including 46.3 percent who have a “very unfavorable” view of him. By comparison, 40.5 percent of Boomers have a favorable opinion of Vance, giving him an overall net favorable rating of minus 11.7 percent among the key voting demographic.

It is the latest poll to trouble Vance since Trump endorsed him as vice presidential candidate in 2024.

Harry Enten, CNN’s senior political data reporter, previously said Vance was the least liked non-incumbent vice presidential candidate at the party convention since 1980, and the first to average a negative net approval rating after the convention.

According to the Big Village poll, more than a third of adults have an unfavorable opinion of Vance, among Gen Zers ages 18-26 (37 percent), Gen Yers ages 27-42 (37.7 percent) and Gen Xers ages 43-58 (36.2 percent).

Vance also has a net negative score of minus 4 points among a smaller sample of 744 likely voters.

Meanwhile, the Big Village survey found that Trump’s positive ratings are also down.

Overall, 46.3% of adults have a positive opinion of the former president, while 48.8% have an unfavorable opinion of him.

This includes a minus-15-point favorability rating among baby boomers and a minus-1-point rating among likely voters.

The Trump-Vance campaign team was contacted for comment by email.

By comparison, Vice President Kamala Harris and her Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both posted positive results in the Big Village poll.

Harris had a positive 5-point approval rating among all adults and a positive 8-point approval rating among likely voters.

Walz’s approval rating was plus 4 points among all adults, and plus 7 points among likely voters.

Harris also beat Trump in the 2024 general election poll among all adults (41.9% to 39.4%) and among likely voters (46.5% to 43.7%).

The Big Village poll was conducted Aug. 9-11 among 1,001 U.S. adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points among all adults and among a smaller sample of 757 likely votes.