CNN
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Former Vice President Mike Pence will launch his 2024 presidential campaign on June 7 with an announcement video and a speech in Iowa, two sources familiar with the plans tell CNN.
The announcement, first reported by NBC News, will take place later that evening at Grand View University in Des Moines before a CNN Town Hall with Pence.
Pence’s presidential bid will pit him against his former boss and running mate, former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term and is currently the early frontrunner.
His announcement in Iowa rather than his home state of Indiana indicates the level of importance he places on the state, which holds the first caucus, in the GOP nominating process.
Pence’s allies said Committed to America, a super PAC launched earlier this month to support his candidacy, will organize in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. Pence is expected to spend more time in the Hawkeye state in the coming months, sources said at the time.
Before being chosen as Trump’s running mate in the 2016 election, Pence was a former member of the United States Congress, including serving as governor of Indiana and chairman of the House Republican Conference.
Pence, in recent months, has been promoting his memoir, “So Help God,” while also testing the presidential bid. In her speeches and events, she has focused on fiscal responsibility and reforms, support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and pushing an anti-abortion stance and advocating against “radical sexism.”
Last week, he told local Iowa television station KCCI that he had a “clear sense of our calling” in a possible presidential bid.
Pence faces a tough road to the GOP nomination, but his politics resonate with evangelical Christians, a key voting bloc for Republicans. He is in the single digits with Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who jumped into the race last week.
Pence and Trump were at loggerheads after Trump pressured Pence to block the 2020 election results and the January 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol.
Pence will join a growing field of Republicans running against President Joe Biden, who is running for a second term. Along with Trump and DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, US Sen. Tim Scott, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramasamy are also running for the GOP nomination.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to announce his 2024 candidacy on Tuesday, CNN reported. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also scheduled to make an announcement in Fargo next Wednesday, a sign that points to a possible Republican presidential bid, a source familiar with the plans told CNN.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
