Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to throw his hat in the 2024 ring next Wednesday, a source familiar with the plan told the Washington Examiner.
Pence will make an announcement in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 7, the date of his 64th birthday, putting him on a collision course with his old boss, former President Donald Trump. He is slated to attend a CNN town hall that same day.
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For months, Pence has swung through key early states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and more, testing the waters as he mulled a run. He has long teased that a decision was coming and that he was praying over it with his wife.
Iowa is the first state to vote in the GOP primary contest and Pence, a Midwesterner, has traveled there on numerous occasions already with plans to return for Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-IA) annual "Roast and Ride" event on June 3. Fellow 2024 aspirant Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) delivered his campaign "kickoff" event in Iowa, underscoring the importance of the Hawkeye State.
From the sidelines, Pence has sought to nudge his party to stay true to its conservative principles on spending and abortion. Unlike other contenders, he has not been shy about directly calling for abortion to be banned nationwide. He has also dinged other hopefuls, including Trump, for ruling out entitlement reform.
More recently, Pence excoriated the debt limit deal announced over the weekend, blasting it for weakening the military and insufficiently addressing the deficit.
Pence has consistently polled in either third or fourth place in the hypothetical GOP primary field, per the RealClearPolitics polling aggregate. Throughout the Trump administration, Pence had been a stalwart ally of the former president, but things took a turn on Jan. 6, 2021, when he refused to decertify the 2020 election, something he insists he lacked the power to do.
"I must tell you the president’s words and tweet that day were reckless,” Pence reflected in a CNN town hall. “They endangered my family and all the people at the Capitol. And I was angry. But ... in the Christian faith, forgiveness is not optional."
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News of Pence's entrance comes amid reports of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announcing Tuesday and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) Wednesday. The GOP primary field is already crowded, with Trump, DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and more already in the race.
After CNN announced the June 7 town hall with Pence, he stepped down from headlining the Georgia Republican convention that day. Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake will replace him in that slot.
Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.