It’s official: Mike Pence, the vice president during the Trump administration, is a Republican candidate for president in the 2024 election.
On Monday, Pence filed the official paperwork that’s needed to declare himself a candidate in next year’s presidential election. That pits him directly against his former boss, Donald Trump, only two years following their partnership as president and vice president.
Pence plans to officially kick off his presidential bid with a nomination video that will be sent out this week. He also plans to hold a kick-off event in Iowa Wednesday, which is also Pence’s 64th birthday.
Much of the early attention in the GOP primary fight has been given to Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both of whom consistently rank first and second in polling, respectively. However, many of Pence’s supporters say they see a path for him to etch out a path to the GOP nomination.
They say he could position himself as a reliable conservative voice who has distanced himself from many of the controversial policies of the Trump administration. He’s also likely to get more favorable coverage in the left-leaning media than either Trump or DeSantis will.
The former vice president routinely says that the “Trump-Pence administration” accomplished many things in their four years in the White House, his bid for the White House in 2024 would be more of a return to positions that the Republican establishment has long held.
Those are positions that the GOP seemingly abandoned under Trump’s rise to power in the party.
Pence is sure to bring a style and policies that are more in line with the style of former President Ronald Reagan, which line up with the traditional policies of the Republican Party. Many times, Pence has warned against the growing populist tide that seems to be rising within the GOP.
Pence is very much opposed to abortion rights and supports the procedure being banned across the country. He’s also campaigned against schools having policies in place regarding transgender-affirming issues.
His stances on issues such as Medicare and Social Security – which he said should have the qualification ages raised to keep them solvent – are in direct contrast to what both DeSantis and Trump believe.
He’s been adamant that the U.S. should actually provide more support to Ukraine in their fight against Russia, admonishing all “Putin apologists” in the Republican Party who aren’t willing to stand up to the president of Russia.
Many times in the past, Pence has said he’s “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.” Over the last few months, he’s laid the groundwork for this presidential run, which was very much expected.
He’s done so by holding events in the early voting states of New Hampshire, South Carolin and Iowa, where he’s given speeches about policy and met with people at churches, all while trying to court donors to his side.
The Pence campaign team believes Iowa is very key to him securing the GOP nomination, since there are many evangelical Christian voters in the state.
