Mike Pence

Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (born June 7, 1959 in Columbus, Indiana) is the conservative, pro-life, evangelical Republican governor of Indiana, and the Vice Presidential running mate of presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016. Prior to being governor, Pence was one of the most conservative members of Congress, serving in the U.S. Representative from Indiana's 6th congressional district. In the 111th Congress, he served as Chairman of the House Republican Conference. Pence has also been a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mike Pence
Governor of Indiana From: January 14, 2013-present
Predecessor	Mitch Daniels
Successor	Incumbent (no successor)
U.S. Representative from Indiana's 6th Congressional District From: January 3, 2003-January 3, 2013
Predecessor	Dan Burton
Successor	Luke Messer
U.S. Representative from Indiana's 2nd Congressional District From: January 3, 2001-January 3, 2003
Predecessor	David McIntosh
Successor	Chris Chocola
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Karen Pence
Religion	Evangelical Christian

Early life

Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana on June 7, 1959 to an Irish-Catholic family. He was one of six children, and his father was a U.S. Army veteran and gas station-chain owner.

Early in his life, Pence was strongly aligned with the Democratic Party and was a Roman Catholic. He volunteered for the party while in high school, and he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. When Pence was in college he became a born-again Christian through his future wife, Karen. After his conversion, his views shifted towards the right, and after the election of Ronald Reagan as president, Pence became a Republican as he was inspired by the Reagan's policies.

Pence graduated from Hanover College in 1981 with a B.A. in history, and he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Indiana University School of Law in 1986.

Early career

Pence became a practicing attorney and hosted a conservative radio talk show that was syndicated statewide.

In 2000, Pence was elected to Congress and reelected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. In 2005, Pence became chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group representing the most conservative members of the House.

In October 2009 Pence defended conservative talk radio, saying:

"To suggest that men and women that are taking a stand for fiscal discipline and traditional values in the national debate today only speak for ‘grassroots activists’ is absurd. As evidenced by the hundreds of thousands that filled town hall meetings this summer and the nearly a million Americans who gathered here in Washington in September. Millions of Americans, Republicans, Democrats and Independents are worried about liberal social policies and runaway federal spending, deficit and debt.

So to my friends in the so-called ‘mainstream media’ I say, ‘conservative talk show hosts may not speak for everybody but they speak for more Americans than you do.’"

Governor of Indiana

Pence became nationally famous in 2015 for initially defending a new religious freedom law for Indiana businesses that would have enabled them to decline supporting the homosexual agenda, such as in being compelled to bake a cake for same-sex marriage. Ultimately Pence compromised based on intense pressure from the liberal media, by adding protection for sexual orientation into Indiana law. But subsequent events showed that Pence did stand up more against the homosexual agenda than virtually any other governor, including so-called conservatives Greg Abbott and Chris Christie.

Personal life

Pence was raised as a Democratic Roman Catholic, but when he was in college he became a born-again Christian, and after his conversion he became a conservative.

Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." His political views are strongly influenced by his faith and by Russell Kirk.

External links

• Official Site
• On the Issues