Mike Pence files paperwork to launch 2024 Republican presidential campaign

Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork Monday to tally for president successful 2024, Federal Election Commission documents showed.

Pence, who served nether erstwhile President Donald Trump, is expected to personally motorboat his bid for the GOP information connected Wednesday. A spokesperson for Pence confirmed the FEC filings.

The erstwhile vice president is expected to bring a much traditionally blimpish dependable to a superior tract that has been drowned retired by the populist preachings of Trump, the existent front-runner, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Pence, who turns 64 connected Wednesday, served much than a decennary successful the U.S. House and 1 word arsenic politician of Indiana, establishing himself arsenic a staunch blimpish earlier becoming Trump's moving mate successful his winning 2016 statesmanlike campaign.

But helium faces immoderate stiff headwinds successful the contention to the White House arsenic helium fights to triumph the enactment of a enactment that remains mostly loyal to Trump.

His canvass numbers are amended than immoderate of his competitors' but person mostly hovered astir the low- to mid-single digits successful surveys of the prospective superior field.

His run is booting up weeks, if not months, aboriginal than those of galore of his rivals, including Trump and DeSantis, who are starring the battalion successful polls.

And it's unclear if Pence volition beryllium capable to make a large capable warfare thorax to beryllium capable to meaningfully vie with different contenders' operations, immoderate of which were flush with currency from the outset oregon poised to payment from monolithic spending from allied ace PACs. One specified radical backing DeSantis, for instance, expects to wield a $200 cardinal operating budget.

Perhaps 1 of Pence's biggest hurdles: Walking the good enactment of touting his accomplishments successful the "Trump-Pence administration," arsenic helium often calls it, portion distinguishing himself from his erstwhile boss.

Pence successful caller months has said that the enforcement subdivision nether Trump and Pence could person done much to rein successful spending. He has besides been 1 of the fewer politicians of either enactment to regularly telephone for changes to Social Security and Medicare, voluntarily touching the alleged 3rd obstruction of authorities that astir of his opponents person avoided.

Pence's once-close confederation with Trump imploded aft helium refused to assistance the then-president's efforts to overturn his nonaccomplishment to President Joe Biden aft the 2020 election.

Trump, some publically and privately, had heaped unit connected Pence to cull cardinal Electoral College votes for Biden portion Pence presided implicit a associated league of Congress connected Jan. 6, 2021. Biden had won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232 — a information cemented by the Electoral College weeks earlier — and national lawmakers had gathered astatine the U.S. Capitol gathering to corroborate Biden's triumph successful what was historically a ceremonial event.

Pence said conscionable earlier that gathering began that helium did not person the law authorization to unilaterally determine which electoral votes should oregon should not beryllium counted. That announcement infuriated galore of Trump's supporters who had gathered astatine a adjacent rally to perceive the then-president echo unfounded and debunked conspiracy theories astir wide predetermination fraud.

Many of those rallygoers were among the thousands of Trump's backers who past stormed the Capitol, forcing Pence and members of Congress to fly the House and Senate chambers. Some of the rioters chanted "Hang Mike Pence" arsenic they marched done the building.

As the riot unfolded, Trump tweeted that Pence "didn't person the courageousness to bash what should person been done."

Trump has since defended those chanters who called to bent Pence, and helium has doubled down connected his mendacious claim that Pence "could person overturned" the 2020 election.

Pence has stood by his actions connected the time of the Capitol riot, portion mostly avoiding explicitly criticizing Trump. He has said Trump was "wrong" to judge the vice president could overthrow the election, but has cast doubt connected whether Trump committed a transgression related to those actions. Pence besides vowed to fight a expansive assemblage subpoena for his grounds successful a peculiar counsel investigation into whether the efforts to undo the 2020 predetermination results were unlawful.

Pence's interruption with Trump implicit the 2020 predetermination nevertheless made him an force of some Republicans. In a caller survey from Quinnipiac University, 35% of Republican registered voters said they held an unfavorable sentiment of Pence — a importantly higher fig than Trump (11%), DeSantis (5%) and erstwhile South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (12%) received.

While his lasting successful the Republican mainstream seemed to wane pursuing the Capitol riot and the 2022 midterms, Trump remains the Republican to bushed successful the 2024 primary. Polls amusement him starring the battalion of imaginable superior challengers and keeping a firm grip connected a basal of voters that forms a sizable chunk of the GOP.

Pence has taken a fewer oblique jabs astatine his erstwhile brag successful the run-up to his run launch, predicting that determination volition beryllium "better candidates" than Trump successful 2024.

He besides suggested that Trump deserved blasted for the GOP's underperformance successful the 2022 midterms. "Our candidates that were focused connected the past, peculiarly connected relitigating the past election, did not bash well," Pence told CNBC successful an evident notation to Trump, who has made his denial of the 2020 predetermination results a cardinal taxable of his 2024 campaign.