Pence starts presidential campaign.

Former Vice President Mike Pence Announces 2024 Presidential Run

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former vice president Mike Pence on Monday declared himself a candidate in the 2024 Republican race for the White House, setting up a fight against former president Donald Trump.

Pence‘s campaign has filed a declaration of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and will launch his campaign with a video and a speech in the early nominating state of Iowa on Wednesday, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

As a staunch social conservative and former governor of Indiana, Pence has increasingly distanced himself from Trump, citing his encouragement of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a danger to himself and his family, who were in the building at the time.

A Crowded Field of Republican Candidates

Pence joins a growing field of Republican candidates, which includes Trump, U.S. senator Tim Scott, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who is also planning to enter the race on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with Burgum’s plans.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is also jumping into the race on Tuesday, bringing the total number of Republican candidates into double digits.

• Mike Pence
• Donald Trump
• Tim Scott
• Nikki Haley
• Doug Burgum
• Chris Christie

The number of candidates vying for the nomination concerns many Trump opponents inside the Republican Party who fear the anti-Trump vote could be split and hand the party’s nomination to the former president.

Reporting by Katharine Jackson; editing by Tim Ahmann and Ross Colvin

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