Former Vice President Mike Pence has officially announced that he is running for president.
“I have long believed that to whom much is given, much is required. My family and I have been blessed beyond measure with opportunities to serve this nation, and it would be easy to stay on the sidelines. But that’s not how I was raised,” he says in his campaign launch video. “That’s why today, before God and my family, I’m announcing I’m running for president of the United States.”
Pence filed paperwork to run on Monday before officially entering Wednesday, on his 64th birthday.
In his campaign launch video, Pence emphasized that the American dream is being “crushed” under President Joe Biden‘s administration and noted that “different times call for different leadership.” He promises that the American economy can be revived, liberties defended, border secured, budget balanced, and more.
“We can bring this country back,” he says. “We can defend our nation and secure our border. We could revive our economy, and put our nation back on a path to a balanced budget, defend our liberties and give America a new beginning for life.”
The former vice president joins an already crowded field of GOP candidates: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Donald Trump have all announced their presidential campaigns. Pence will turn 64 on Wednesday, the day he announces his candidacy.
Trump currently leads the field, while DeSantis consistently polls in second place. According to a late May Quinnipiac University poll, Trump had 56%, DeSantis had 25%, Pence polls about the same (2%) as Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (who will announce his candidacy later this week), and Haley received 3% support.
Pence grew up in Indiana and represented his fellow Hoosiers in the United States House of Representatives. There, according to his Advancing American Freedom, “he established himself as a champion of limited government, fiscal responsibility, economic development, educational opportunity, and the U.S. Constitution.”
The former vice president was elected governor of Indiana in 2013, and in 2016, Trump selected him as his running mate. Voters elected Trump and Pence on Nov. 8, 2016, and the Trump-Pence administration began on Jan. 20, 2017.
An archived list of the administration’s chief accomplishments includes an “unprecedented economic boom,” tax relief for the middle class, massive deregulation, fair and reciprocal trade, American energy independence, investments in America’s workers and families, the administration’s “life-saving response to the China virus,” great health care for Americans, a historic number of judicial appointments—including the Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade—securing the border, restoring American leadership abroad, rebuilding the military, protecting veterans, and more.
Pence’s “Freedom Agenda” builds on these accomplishments.
“The Trump-Pence team fought for and protected American liberty for every American of every race, color, and creed,” Advancing American Freedom says on its website. “In 48 months, the Trump-Pence administration achieved the lowest unemployment, the highest household incomes, the most energy production, the most pro-American trade deals, the most secure border, and the strongest military in the history of the world.”
The organization adds: “The U.S. Constitution begins with ‘We the People,’ and We the People have had enough of destructive policies. We must return to the pro-freedom policies of Presidents [Ronald] Reagan and Trump. What follows are some ideas for how—together—we can advance American culture, American opportunity, American leadership, and ultimately Advance American Freedom once again.”
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