Illinois voters weigh in on 2024 vice presidential picks Tim Walz and JD Vance

(CHICAGO) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will take the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday to formally accept the vice presidential nomination and deliver a keynote speech.

Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz to be her running mate earlier this month, just a couple weeks after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s exit.

Walz, 60, gained traction during the veepstakes with his folksy mannerisms and viral comments advocating for the Democratic Party’s agenda and critiquing former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance. But nationally, he was a relatively unknown figure.

“When Harris announced that Tim Walz was running for vice president, I had absolutely no clue who this man was,” said Valerie Jencks, a moderate Democrat from Illinois who is supporting the Harris-Walz ticket.

Jencks and other local voters sat down with ABC News at Chicago’s Green Door Tavern to discuss the 2024 election.

Jencks said she was “personally relieved” that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was not selected because she’d like him to remain in his position leading the state, and said she was a strong supporter of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the veepstakes.

Still, she said she thought Walz was “a breath of fresh air.”

“He is knowledgeable about the issues. He has a very strong record, and he’s very personable and authentic,” Jencks said of Walz. “I feel like he really understands the issues of the everyday American.”

Last month, Trump announced Vance would be his running mate during the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Vance, a 39-year-old first-term senator from Ohio, has become a staunch ideological ally of the former president who rose to fame due to his memoir Hillbilly Elegy. But he was also not a big name in politics until he began to emerge as a top contender to join Trump on the ballot.

David Spada, a conservative Republican, said he was surprised by Trump’s pick and thought he would have picked a more moderate Republican such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

“He probably should have picked someone more towards the middle, rather than more towards the right, which I think might hurt him,” Spada said. “But again, you never know what Trump’s gonna do. He just does what he wants.”

A recent ABC News poll found Walz was getting a more positive public reception than his Republican counterpart in the initial rollout of their candidacies.

Thirty-nine percent of Americans surveyed had a favorable impression of Walz as a person, while 30% viewed him unfavorably. Vance, meanwhile, was viewed unfavorably by 42% of respondents compared to 32% who viewed him favorably. Though a sizable portion of respondents said they had no opinion of either candidate (31% in Walz’s case and 26% in Vance’s case).