Mike Pence Enters 2024 Presidential Race, Challenging Donald Trump for Republican Nomination
Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Monday declaring his 2024 candidacy for president.
On Wednesday, he plans to host a campaign launch — which was announced in a botched media advisory that initially failed to include a date — coinciding with his 64th birthday and the day of his scheduled town hall on CNN.
Now officially in the race, Pence aims to secure the Republican nomination in a field already populated by higher-polling candidates, including his onetime boss Donald Trump.
Pence has long been hinting at a presidential run, raising the not-yet-answered question of whether he can capitalize on growing division within the Republican Party to surpass Trump in polls.
In interviews, public appearances, and a memoir about his handling of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, Pence has attempted to distance himself from Trump, pointing the finger at the former president for some of their administration’s chaos.
With Trump’s legal and political baggage still following him into his 2024 campaign, Pence has portrayed himself as a calmer, more rational alternative for voters with firmly conservative values.
But in order to see a proper Pence vs. Trump matchup, the former vice president will need to quickly garner enthusiasm among Trump skeptics who are thus far more intrigued by candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Pence served as the governor of Indiana — a position he held for four years — resigning days before he was sworn in as vice president in 2017.
Prior to entering state politics, Pence was a longtime member of the U.S. House. He’d run unsuccessfully for Congress in 1988 and 1990, ultimately getting elected in 2000. Throughout the ’90s, he hosted a syndicated radio talk show in Indiana called The Mike Pence Show, referring to himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.”
