In a new poll conducted by USA Today/Suffolk University, 75 percent of white Americans said it was very or somewhat important to them–in comparison to 60 percent of Black Americans and 81 percent of Hispanics.
A majority of the party–7 out of 10 Democrats–think it’s important for Biden to put a woman of color on the ballot this fall.
Of the group surveyed, California Senator Kamala Harris generated the most enthusiasm for the potential vice presidential nominee, followed by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and Abrams, an African-American, are both women of color. Forty-one percent of white Americans and 31 percent of Black Americans said they would be “excited” if Harris was selected, while 20 percent of white Americans and 27 percent of Black Americans said the same for Abrams.
Warren, who is white, excited 33 percent of white Americans and 15 percent of Black Americans.
Other potential candidates included Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Newsweek reached out to Harris, Abrams and Warren for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The poll also found that there is little support for current Vice President Mike Pence. Nearly half of Republicans said it would be acceptable if President Donald Trump dropped Pence from the GOP ticket and replaced him with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Only 6 percent of Republicans said they would be “angry” about the decision.
Biden has vowed to choose a woman to be his running mate and said he wants to announce his vice presidential nominee around August 1.
Only two women have been on the presidential ticket for a major political party in the past: Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008.
There seems to be an age correlation between the Democrats surveyed and the importance of a woman of color as vice president one of the pollster said.
“It’s clear that young Democrats are taking a strong position,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told Newsweek. “The only place where importance dropped off significantly was among older people. Young people are saying it’s really important and people over 65 saying not so much.”
He also said that selecting a woman of color for the White House was slightly more important to women than men.