Mike Pence 2024 presidential campaign
The Mike Pence 2024 presidential campaign was formally launched on June 5, 2023, when Mike Pence filed paperwork to launch his entry into the 2024 United States presidential election. He formally announced his candidacy two days later.

Background
In October 2021, polls of Republicans regarding their preferred presidential candidate in 2024 implied that Pence could begin a campaign as a top-tier candidate if former president Trump were to forgo a run. At the same time, this polling suggested a precipitous decline in Pence's polling numbers in the event that Trump were to seek to reclaim the White House. In light of this, there was a widespread view among both Republican leaders and grassroots Republicans that "Pence is dead in the early waters of 2024."

In May 2022, The New York Times reported that Pence was considering a presidential run regardless of whether Trump decided to run for a second term. Since leaving the vice presidency, Pence had distanced himself from Trump's attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election and made high-profile speeches in early nominating states. Pence also separated himself from Trump by endorsing candidates in several Republican primary elections in opposition to the candidate endorsed by Trump. In the primary for governor of Georgia, Pence endorsed incumbent governor Brian Kemp over the Trump-backed candidate, former senator David Perdue. This was described as "a proxy battle" between Pence and Trump, with Pence's candidate Kemp winning the nomination easily. In the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, Pence endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson while Trump endorsed Kari Lake. In the 2022 Wisconsin gubernatorial election Pence endorsed former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch; Trump supported businessman Tim Michels.

In October 2022, Pence condemned "unprincipled populism" and "Putin apologists" in the Republican Party. In December 2022, Pence was reported to have filed paperwork to run for president in the 2024 United States presidential election against Trump in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries. It was later reported that the filing did not occur.

In 2023, Pence criticized Trump, especially regarding the events that took place on January 6, 2021. While speaking at a Gridiron dinner, an event attended by politicians and journalists, Pence said that Trump was wrong to suggest that Pence had a right to overturn the election results. Pence went further, saying that Trump's words not only endangered him, but his family and everyone at the Capitol. Much of the rhetoric was believed to be a lead-up to Pence's potential run for the Republican nomination heading into the 2024 election.

Announcement
On June 5, 2023, Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), officially becoming a candidate. He announced his candidacy two days later on his 64th birthday.

Campaign developments
On June 29, 2023, Pence visited Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pence, who became the first 2024 Republican presidential candidate to visit the country, said, "We need to make sure that we provide the Ukrainian military what they need to push back on and defeat Russian aggression here."

Following Trump's indictment in the 2020 election case, Pence would not say whether he planned to vote for Trump in the 2024 general election should Trump win the Republican nomination.

Pence was one of eight candidates who appeared at the first Republican presidential debate on August 23, 2023. When asked what his strategy for the debate would be, Pence said he would be himself and that he felt "like I’ve been preparing for this first Republican presidential debate my whole life." The Hill declared Pence, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley the winners, furthering that Pence delivered "a number of forceful interventions" as he demonstrated fierceness and had seen "the best night of his campaign to date." BBC News declared Pence the second-place winner, behind Vivek Ramaswamy, and ahead of Haley. The Washington Post declared Trump (who did not appear), Ramaswamy, and Pence the debate's winners. The reporters of Politico had mixed responses, variously citing Pence, Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis as the winners. After the debate, in a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that he "never asked Mike Pence to put me above the Constitution. Who would say such a thing? A FAKE STORY!"

Fundraising 
In July 2023, a Pence campaign advisor revealed the campaign had raised US$3.85 million in the second quarter of 2023, with Politico noting that "Pence’s haul pales in comparison to the fundraising totals released by many of his Republican rivals, especially given Pence’s previous two appearances on a presidential ticket and access to donors." Starting in August, Pence sold t-shirts and hats that read “Too honest," referencing a January 2021 phone call between Pence and Trump in which the latter called the then-vice president "too honest" after Pence said there was no constitutional basis to reject votes in the 2020 election. On August 7, the Pence campaign announced it had reached the donor threshold to qualify for the first Republican debate, having relied on direct mail and requesting just $1 to meet 40,000 unique donors requirement.

Endorsements

References

2023 establishments in the United States
2024 Republican Party (United States) presidential campaigns
2024 presidential campaign