New Poll Shows Just How Well Pence's Debate Performance Resonated With Republican Voters

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was the consensus winner of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate, but he apparently did so well that he has a number of Republicans wishing he was at the top of the Republican ticket instead of Donald Trump.

A Morning Consult poll released Friday shows nearly one-third of Republican voters — 32 percent — say they prefer Pence to Trump as opposed to 59 percent who prefer Trump at the top of the GOP ticket.

The same does not seem to be true of Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine, who is preferred by a paltry nine percent to Clinton.

“Even though the VP debate had about half the audience of the presidential debate, both Mike Pence and Tim Kaine have seen their name recognition go up significantly,” said Kyle Dropp, co-founder and chief research officer Kyle Dropp for Morning Consult.

“The news is much better for Pence, though,” Dropp added. “Not only do more voters think he won the debate, his favorability now sits 10 points higher than Kaine’s.”

The poll of 1,989 registered voters also shows Pence as the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2020 if Trump loses in November.

Results of the poll had 22 percent of Republican voters putting Pence at the top of their list for the Republican nomination four years from now.

The 2016 GOP vice presidential nominee is followed in popularity by the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, with 13 percent saying they would like House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to be the 2020 nominee.

An additional 13 percent said they would like to see Trump run again if he loses in November.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the 2016 runner-up for the Republican nomination, is preferred by 12 percent of Republicans and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was in the final four for the nomination in 2016, comes in just behind him at 11 percent.

Those polled said Tuesday’s debate had a big impact on their opinion of Pence, with 52 percent saying they now have a more favorable view of him.

Republicans warmed up to Pence even more after Tuesday, with an overwhelming number of them — 79 percent — saying the debate made them look at the Indiana governor in a more favorable light.

However, despite the positive results for Pence, his debate performance does not seem to have had any effect on the 2016 race.

The poll found that while Pence did well, a whopping 84 percent of registered voters said the vice presidential debate had no impact on who they would be voting for in the 2016 presidential race.

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