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Who won the vice president debate last night? That's what quick surveys and betting markets say.

Who won the vice president debate last night? That's what quick surveys and betting markets say.

Topline

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, faced off Tuesday night in a mostly civil but policy-heavy vice presidential debate that was described by some as “nice in the Midwest,” but bettors and viewers polled believed the Republican candidate beat his Democratic rival.

Important facts

CBS News, which ran the debate, released a snap poll of debate watchers shortly after the event that found 42% of respondents believed Vance won, 41% gave Walz the edge and 17% thought it was a tie.

According to the CBS poll, both candidates received support after the debate, with Vance's share rising from 40% to 49% while Walz's share rose from 52% to 60%.

CNN also released an instant poll of viewers after the debate asking which candidate did better, with Vance narrowly defeating Walz 51-49.

The CNN poll also showed an increase in the popularity of both candidates: The number of respondents who view Walz favorably increased from 46% to 59%, while the number of respondents who view Walz favorably rose from 30% to 41%.

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How did the betting markets react?

The betting markets declared Vance the winner of the debate. On crypto-based betting platform Polymarket, bookmakers believe Vance has a 73% chance in post-debate opinion polls of being tipped as the winner of Tuesday night's debate, compared to 27% for Walz. This is a complete reversal from before the debate, when bettors gave Walz a 70 percent chance of being declared the winner of the debate.

tangent

Bookmakers in election betting markets gave former President Donald Trump's odds of winning a slight boost on Tuesday, but most of the shift came just hours before the debate – likely as a result of some positive poll numbers for the Republican in Georgia and North Carolina. However, Vice President Kamala Harris has a slight edge: Bookmarks give her a 50.3% chance of winning in November, compared to 48.9%.

Further reading

Trump claims Harris 'just' requested another debate – but says again he won't (Forbes)

Walz says he 'misspoke' when he claimed he was in Hong Kong's Tiananmen Square protests (Forbes)

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