Former vice president Mike Pence has entered the presidential race, filing Federal Election Commission paperwork Monday.
Pence is set to announce his run on Wednesday with a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa to be followed by a CNN for town hall in the evening, sources familiar with the plans told the Associated Press.
The Republican race is growing increasingly crowded. In late May, Florida governor Ron DeSantis joined former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, and Donald Trump, the frontrunner.
The move sets up a contest between a former president and his vice president. The relationship between Trump and Pence has become contentious due to the events of January 6, 2021. Pence has harshly criticized his former boss for pressuring him to cooperate with a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election by refusing to certify certain electoral votes. “I had no right to overturn the election and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable,” Pence said at a March event in Washington D.C.
Pence is a former governor of Indiana and also served in the House of Representatives for more than a decade. He was chair of the House Republican Conference near the end of his tenure.
The former vice president has not been afraid to take on other candidates, including DeSantis, who is second to Trump in the polls. Pence has criticized the Florida governor for his ongoing feud with Disney, explaining that DeSantis’s approach is “beyond the scope of what I as a conservative, a limited government Republican, would be prepared to do.”
The move also comes shortly after the Department of Justice declined to file charges against Pence in a classified-documents probe. Pence fully complied with the investigation and will also testify in special counsel Jack Smith’s January 6 probe into Trump.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum are also expected to enter the race this week.