Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday with the Federal Election Commission to formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination for president.

Pence is set to formally announce his campaign on Wednesday -- his 64th birthday -- with a kickoff video and speech in Des Moines, Iowa, a crucial early battleground for the Republican nomination.

What You Need To Know

  • Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday to formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination for president

  • The former Indiana governor will launch his campaign on June 7 -- his 64th birthday -- with a video and a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, before attending a CNN Town Hall

  • Allies of the former vice president launched a super PAC last week to support his expected candidacy

  • Pence faces an uphill battle to the nomination with much of the attention and fundraising focused so far on Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

The impending announcement pits Pence against his old boss, former President Donald Trump, in what's shaping up to be a bruising GOP primary. While Trump is currently leading the early fight for the nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis polling consistently in second, Pence supporters see a lane for a reliable conservative who espouses many of the previous administration’s policies but without the constant tumult.

While he frequently lauds the accomplishments of the “Trump-Pence administration,” a Pence nomination in many ways would be a return to positions long associated with the Republican establishment but abandoned as Trump reshaped the party in his image. Pence has warned against the growing populist tide in the party, and advisers see him as the only traditional, Reagan-style conservative in the race.

News of Pence's candidacy was first reported last week by NBC News.

Allies of the former vice president launched a super PAC last week to support his expected candidacy.

“The country’s at real crossroads and the Republican Party needs a strong conservative candidate who can win,” Scott Reed, co-chair of the Committed to America PAC and a longtime GOP strategist, told The Associated Press. “Pence has the experience, the unparalleled character, communication skills and the conservative credentials to win both the nomination and a general election.”

The new group is co-chaired by Reed, who previously served as political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and managed Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, and former Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, who developed a close friendship with Pence when they served in the House and is a former chair of the House Republican Conference.

Pence faces an uphill battle to the nomination with much of the attention and fundraising focused so far on Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The crowded field also includes former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is also set to announce his campaign this week, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is slated to announce a presidential run on June 7 in Fargo.

A staunch opponent of abortion rights, Pence supports a national ban on the procedure and has campaigned against transgender-affirming policies in schools. He has argued that changes to Social Security and Medicare, like raising the age for qualification, should be on the table to keep the programs solvent — which both Trump and DeSantis have opposed — and criticized DeSantis for his escalating feud with Disney. He also has said the U.S. should offer more support to Ukraine against Russian aggression, while admonishing “Putin apologists” in the party unwilling to stand up to the Russian leader.

Pence, who describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” has spent months laying the groundwork for an expected run, holding events in early voting states like Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, visiting churches, delivering policy speeches and courting donors.

Pence’s team sees Iowa and its evangelical Christian voters as critical to his potential path to victory. Advisers say he plans to campaign aggressively in the state, hitting every one of its 99 counties before its first-in-the-nation caucuses next year.

The campaign is expected to lean heavily on town halls and retail stops aimed at reintroducing Pence to voters who only know him from his time as Trump’s second-in-command. Pence served for more than a decade in Congress and as Indiana’s governor before he was tapped as Trump’s running mate in 2016.

As vice president, Pence had been an exceeding loyal defender of Trump until the days leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump falsely tried to convince Pence and his supporters that Pence had the power to unilaterally overturn the results of the 2020 election.

That day, a mob of Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building after being spurred on by Trump’s lies that the 2020 election had been stolen. Many in the crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” as Pence, his staff and his family ran for safety, hiding in a Senate loading dock.

Pence has called Trump’s actions dangerous and said the country is looking for a new brand of leadership in the 2024 election.

“I think we’ll have better choices,” he recently told The Associated Press. “The American people want us to return to the policies of the Trump-Pence administration, but I think they want to see leadership that reflects more of the character of the American people.”