Pence’s IN record more complicated than campaign claims

Though he’s served both in Congress and as Indiana’s governor, Pence is largely unknown to the American broader public, making his convention address all the more important. While the IN unemployment rate has dropped from 8 percent when he took office to 5 percent IN May, the state’s population is also at a record level.

A plurality of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters say they have a favorable view of Pence-49 percent said their impression of him is strongly or somewhat favorable. 43 percent were not sure and 35 percent said he is not ready.

Vote preference also doesn’t yet seem to be influenced much by Trump’s decision to choose Pence, as fully 76 percent of voters said Trump’s decision did not make any difference in whether or not they will vote for him in November.

Pence’s selection has been seen as an opportunity to unite Republicans behind Donald Trump, and party members say they expect his speech to be a step toward that goal.

This gives the IN governor an opportunity to use his big speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night to present himself and make the argument that he is ready to be the Vice President.

The poll was conducted July 15-17 among 1,300 registered voters. It has a margin of error of +/-4.3 percentage points.