Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is lending his GOP establishment and conservative bona fides to Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump’s selection of Mr. Pence as his No. 2 gives the ticket a man with experience running a Midwestern state who is also a household name in the hallways of Congress.
Currently Indiana’s governor, Mr. Pence spent a dozen years in Washington as a House lawmaker, where he eventually climbed the ranks to become a member of leadership as head of the House Republican Conference.
Mr. Trump himself said he wanted a vice president who knows how to deal with Washington, and it appears Mr. Pence would ably fill that slot, as GOP leaders in Congress heaped praise on him.
“It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Mike Pence’s. We’re very good friends. I have very high regard for him,” said Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), amid rumblings of Pence’s selection. “I hope that he picks a good movement conservative. Clearly Mike is one of those.”
On style and substance, Mr. Pence in many ways is a strong counterweight to Mr. Trump. While the billionaire is known for brash, bold and sometimes inconsistent statements, Pence offers a more consistent tone while offering years of steady Christian conservative principles.
At the same time, Mr. Pence’s selection to join the GOP ticket returns him to the national political conversation despite many thinking his political future was on the ropes after a sometimes bumpy tenure as governor. Picking such a strong conservative could make bipartisan inroads hard to come by in the general election.
Mr. Pence was born and raised in Indiana. Before heading to Washington, he worked as a private attorney, headed an in-state conservative think tank and hit the airwaves as a talk radio host.
After a pair of unsuccessful runs for a House seat in 1988 and 1990, Mr. Pence was elected to Congress in 2000, where he quickly established a reputation as a staunch conservative while climbing the leadership ranks.
In 2006, Mr. Pence unsuccessfully ran for the top spot among House Republicans, who were then in the minority. The man who defeated him in the minority leader race? John Boehner (R-Ohio), who would go on to become Speaker before stepping down amid conservative pressure within his caucus in 2015.
Mr. Pence was unanimously elected head of the House Republican Conference in 2009, making him the third-highest ranking Republican in the House.
As a legislator, Mr. Pence was a strict fiscal and social conservative, eagerly advocating for tax cuts and spending limits, pushing earmark reform and resisting new protections for the LGBT community.
He called for a ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood and also opposed bailouts for the financial and auto industries.
That mantra stuck with him after becoming Indiana’s governor in 2013 — for good and for bad.
Under Mr. Pence’s watch, the state’s economy has grown and the unemployment rate has been cut nearly in half. But the state was thrust into the national spotlight over a controversial law that was billed as ensuring businesses and individuals could cite religious beliefs if challenged in court.
Many feared the law would allow Indiana businesses to discriminate against gay people, and a raft of controversy ensued. The law became national news, and major organizations, including the NCAA and Apple, criticized the measure.
Amid concerns the blowback could hurt the state’s economy, the legislature passed, and Mr. Pence signed a modified version aimed at ensuring businesses could not bar service to gay customers.
Mr. Pence described the controversy as largely a misunderstanding, but the episode didn’t do him any favors. He also caught flak over a quickly abandoned plan to create a state-run media outlet that would pre-write articles for other publications.
Under Mr. Pence, Indiana was the first state to drop Common Core education requirements and also agreed to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare.
Before joining the ticket, Mr. Pence was facing a tight reelection battle. Polls showed him with a slim lead over Democrat John Gregg, the man he narrowly beat to win the office in 2012.
While Mr. Pence will now serve as Mr. Trump’s leading advocate, the two do not see eye to eye on every issue. Mr. Pence criticized Mr. Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration, calling it “offensive and unconstitutional” in December.
He also offered support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership back in 2014, calling for it to be swiftly adopted. Mr. Trump has made railing against free trade deals a centerpiece of his campaign.
This story originated at www.thehill.com
