Pence formally launches 2024 Republican presidential bid

Former Vice President Mike Pence Monday filed paperwork launching his 2024 Republican presidential race as New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he is not running.

Pence, who has been considering a White House run since leaving office in 2021, launched his campaign two days ahead of an expected announcement on Wednesday.

It effectively allows him to leapfrog another new candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who reportedly plans to announce his own GOP run on Tuesday.

Sununu, the popular moderate governor of a blue state, is a strong critic of former President Donald Trump but determined he did not have a realistic chance to win the Republican primary.

Pence, on the other hand, sees himself as a staunchly traditional Republican alternative to Trump and his so-far main rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

With unquestioned conservative credentials and an authentic heartland persona, Pence is particularly well placed to appeal to evangelical Christian voters.

The one-time loyal lieutenant has slowly broken from Trump after they clashed over Trump’s effort to overturn their 2020 election loss, a push that culminated with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

He has sought to criticize Trump without offending his legion of loyal MAGA supporters, with uneven success.

Many of Trump’s backers openly despise Pence for supposedly betraying Trump. Rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, hunted the ex-veep chanting “hang Mike Pence” and erecting a mock gallows.

Pence’s team sees Iowa as critical to his potential path to victory, with plans to campaign aggressively in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

That will put him firmly on a collision course with DeSantis and less well-known candidates like Sen. Tim Scott.

Conventional wisdom says that the increasingly crowded GOP field could benefit Trump by fragmenting the opposition.

Trump holds a commanding lead in polls with more than 50% of likely primary voters supporting him. DeSantis holds a firm grip on second place with around 20%, followed by Pence and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley in the mid-single digits.

Christie is barely making a blip in the polls. But he sees himself as the only one willing and able to directly confront Trump, especially in debates.