DES MOINES (NewsNation) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is ready to make a third run for the White House, this time vying for the top spot of commander in chief.
Pence filed the paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission, but on Wednesday he’ll formally announce his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, setting up a challenge for his former running mate Donald Trump.
Pence plans to hold a kickoff rally in Des Moines, Iowa, and is later set to appear at a CNN town hall. Wednesday is also Pence’s 64th birthday.
While it’s not an easy task, the former vice president has support in Iowa, as he’s polling ahead of the rest of the growing GOP pack. There are some Iowans ready to turn the Trump page, and that’s where Pence is ready to pounce.
“You know, I have debated Donald Trump many times, just not with the cameras on. And I look forward to talking about a vision for the future because, quite frankly, you know, I was loyal to President Donald Trump throughout our administration,” Pence said. “I’m proud of the record that we created. But obviously, that diverged at the end when we took a strong stand for the Constitution.”
Pence referred to breaking from Trump on the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. In March, Pence said Trump would be held accountable. In April, Pence testified before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Pence appeared despite Trump’s attempt to stop him from answering questions under oath about any potentially illegal acts committed by the former president.
Pence, who describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” has spent months laying the groundwork for an expected run, holding events in early voting states such as Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, visiting churches, delivering policy speeches and courting donors.
Pence’s team sees Iowa and its evangelical Christian voters as critical to his potential path to victory. Advisers say he plans to campaign aggressively in the state, hitting every one of its 99 counties before its caucuses kick off the Republican nominating season next year.
The campaign is expected to lean heavily on town halls and retail stops aimed at reintroducing Pence to voters who only know him from his time as Trump’s second-in-command. Pence served for more than a decade in Congress and as Indiana’s governor before he was tapped as Trump’s running mate in 2016.
Pence said he’s confident that Republican primary voters are going to look at the field and think deeply about who can best carry the conservative message to victory.
