Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

The move led to criticism from Republicans over his military record and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota. A new poll shows his favorability ranking has grown since he was announced as the vice-presidential selection.

What Happened: The selection of Walz came as a slight surprise as his name was not one of the frontrunners in the weeks leading up to Harris' selection, but may have won over additional voters thanks to his political experience, military service, gun rights stance and past career as a teacher.

On Wednesday, billionaire Elon Musk said "Walz is the worst" in response to a tweet questioning his past military service.

Musk has endorsed Donald Trump for president and has been critical of Harris and current President Joe Biden in the past.

A new Morning Consult poll shows that many voters were not familiar with Walz before his selection as Harris' running mate, but are now becoming more familiar and having a favorable opinion.

Here's a look at the current rankings and the rankings from the previous week

Favorable: 38% (18%)

Unfavorable: 33% (11%)

Heard Of, No Opinion: 14% (14%)

Never Heard Of: 15% (54%)

Walz has a net favorable rating of five points as both his favorable and unfavorable ratings rose. The +5 points is ahead of Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance who had a net favorable rating of -1 points at the same point after being selected by Trump for the 2024 election.

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Why It's Important: Among Democratic voters, Walz has a favorable rating of 68% and unfavorable rating of 8%. Independent voters are split with a 33% favorable rating and 32% unfavorable rating.

Young voters (aged 18-34) show a strong lean towards Walz being viewed as favorable with 34% saying they have a favorable rating and 22% saying they have an unfavorable rating, for a net favorability of 12 points.

Voters aged 65 and up are one group that don't rank Walz as favorable with 43% saying they have an unfavorable rating and 42% saying they have a favorable rating.

The net positive rankings among Independent voters, young voters and overall voters could prove to be a positive for Harris and her presidential campaign, which is gaining momentum in election polls. Walz ranking higher than Vance did after the second week following his pick as a vice presidential candidate also favors Harris in the race.

Harris leads Trump by three points in the latest Morning Consult weekly poll. Harris has a favorable rating of 49% and an unfavorable rating of 47%. Harris' net favorability rating of two points is significantly ahead of Trump's -12 point net favorable score.

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