Former Vice President Mike Pence has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to officially declare his candidacy to win the 2024 GOP nomination.

Pence is expected to publicly launch his campaign with a Wednesday rally in Des Moines, Iowa. He is also expected to hold additional events in the state following his campaign announcement, including a CNN town hall at Grand View University. In order to pretend his way onto the GOP debate stage, Pence is putting all of his election eggs into the Iowa basket.

WASHINGTON DC – Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday to run for president, setting up an unprecedented contest between a former vice president and a former president of his own party for the nomination. His largest task will be attempting to win back Republicans who largely cast him aside following Donald Trump’s presidency.

Pence’s entry into the race comes after a sometimes tumultuous two years in the political wilderness following his actions on Jan. 6 to certify the 2020 election, resisting intense pressure from Trump. He has occasionally faced boos from the MAGA base at GOP confabs in places such as a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Florida in 2021 and even on his home turf at a National Rifle Association meeting in Indianapolis this year.

The former six-term congressman and one-term Indiana governor sees an opportunity in Iowa. There, his advisers are betting he can lavish attention and rebuild the coalition of evangelical voters that delivered caucus victories to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012 and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas in 2008. Pence hired the architect of Huckabee’s campaign, Chip Saltsman, to help him do just that.

“Iowa feels more like Indiana more than any other state in the nation,” Pence told voters in Des Moines late last month. (read more)

In related news, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) announced Monday that he will not enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary, saying a crowded field will only help former President Donald Trump win. (link)

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