Poll: Voters have unfavorable opinions of Owens, Shapiro, Kirk, Pratt

By Jon Styf
The Center Square

American taxpayers have a heavily unfavorable opinion of Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro and Erika Kirk but Los Angeles Mayor candidate Spencer Pratt was barely underwater in favorability according to a new poll from Overton Insights.

The poll asked 1,377 registered voters questions between May 16-20, including their feelings about seven high-profile political figures.

“It’s clear that the feud between Candace Owens and Erika Kirk/Ben Shapiro has taken a toll on the popularity of all three,” said Overton Insights Poll Director Mark Cunningham. “While Candace Owens is nominally the most popular, they sit as the least popular political personalities that we polled. It’s notable that Erika Kirk polls much better among Republicans than the other two, but much worse among Democrats.

“The other numbers worth flagging are Spencer Pratt’s and Graham Platner’s. Both have gotten constant press coverage, yet nearly half of voters either haven’t heard of them or have no opinion. It’s a useful reminder that heavy media coverage doesn’t automatically translate to public recognition.”

The poll also looked at the presidential primaries with JD Vance (39%) leading Secretary of State Marco Rubio (32%) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (9%).

The poll had Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg leading for the Democratic nomination with 16%, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (13%), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (12%), former Vice President Kamala Harris (9%), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (9%).

Newsom and Vance lead the respective races in prediction markets, with the poll asking who would win a general election between the two and Newsom leading 44% to 39%, with 9% undecided.

“Newsom continues to show real strength in a general election matchup against Vance, and you can bet that electability will be the cornerstone of his pitch to Democratic primary voters in 2028,” Cunningham said. “However, the primary numbers tell a different story. Not only has he slipped behind Pete Buttigieg in the overall field, but Democratic voters also prefer AOC in a one-on-one matchup, suggesting real cracks with the progressive wing of the party.”

The poll showed that 40% had an unfavorable opinion of Owens with 17% favorable, 44% had an unfavorable opinion of Shapiro with 17% favorable and Kirk had 54% unfavorable compared to 28% favorable.

Pratt had 25% favorable, 29% unfavorable, 31% had never hear of him and 15% had no opinion.

Platner, a Maine Democrat running for Congress who garnered attention for a Nazi-connected tattoo, had 25% unfavorable, 19% favorable and 37% had not heard of him.

Florida Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback saw 23% unfavorable, 10% favorable and 53% had not heard of him while left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker had 19% unfavorable, 10% favorable and 56% had not heard of him.

The poll also asked voters about the multiple assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, with 54% of Democrats believing that the recent attempts on President Trump’s life were staged.

Overall, 51% of voters believe the attempts were genuine with 36% saying they were staged.