Tipsheet

Former VP Mike Pence Set to Launch Presidential Campaign Next Week

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  May 31, 2023 4:15 PM

As the field of Republican candidates seeking to become the party's nominee for president in 2024 continues to grow, it looks like next week will see even more candidates make their campaigns official.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected — as Leah reported Wednesday morning — to announce his 2024 campaign next Tuesday in New Hampshire, and now former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly set to make his bid official at an event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

NBC first scooped the news of Pence's impending announcement which was subsequently confirmed by other outlets, including Politico:

The former six-term congressman and one-term Indiana governor has hopscotched around early states in recent weeks, but lavished much of his attention on Iowa, including stops in Des Moines and Ottumwa last week. He’ll be back in the state this weekend for Gov. Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride.

His choice of Des Moines for his announcement is a signal of how important the state’s socially conservative-rich Republican electorate will be to his chances in a GOP primary.

Chip Saltsman, the architect of former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 2008 Iowa caucuses victor has been helping Pence lay the groundwork in Iowa.

Pence, who resisted pressure from former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election, faces a steep climb. Of all the contenders in a still-growing field, he has been among the most forceful in drawing a distinction from Trump, challenging him, though sometimes obliquely, on everything from foreign policy to federal spending.

Pence on Wednesday will join fellow GOP presidential primary newcomer Chris Christie, his former boss Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, former Trump administration colleague Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Larry Elder, and Asa Hutchinson among the growing field.

A recent poll conducted by Morning Consult had Pence in third place behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

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