What they do know is largely refracted through the negative publicity Harris has faced as a result of her travails in the White House — less-than-sure-footed appearances, an onerous portfolio — and her failed 2020 run for president.

It’s not a great look and has done nothing to ease the doubts voters had even before California’s junior U.S. senator assumed the vice presidency…

“Democrats have never really warmed up to the idea of her in that post,” said Mark DiCamillo, who directed the poll. “When she ran for president she wasn’t well-received … and now that she’s vice president it’s kind of the same thing.”

Harris may have run statewide four times in 12 years (twice for attorney general, once for U.S. Senate and in November 2020 as Biden’s running mate). But that doesn’t mean she left a strong imprint; two years into her Senate term and after a splashy entry into the presidential race, nearly a quarter of California voters had no opinion of her job performance, suggesting they knew or cared very little about what she’d done.