The Alabama Republican Party announced on Monday that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will headline the ALGOP Summer Dinner on Friday, June 20, at the at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center in Birmingham.
Gov. Pence served in Congress for 12 years before being elected governor in 2012. During his tenure in the U.S. House, he served as Chairman of the House Republican Conference, one of the highest ranking Republican leadership positions in the body.
ALGOP called him a “rising star within the Republican Party” and noted that his name had been tossed around as a potential presidential candidate in 2012 before he decided to run for governor instead. He has not been frequently mentioned as a 2016 contender to this point, most likely due to the fact that he would have to forgo his re-election to the Indiana governorship in order to run for the country’s highest office. But with his combination of D.C. and chief executive experience, he could be a formidable candidate if he did decide to run.
POLITICO did, however, bring up Pence in an article focused on the potential 2016 field titled “The invisible primary.”
“Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has met with prominent conservatives, urging him to consider the race,” POLITICO claimed.
Here’s what else they had to say:
Pence, with little more than a year under his belt as governor of Indiana, strikes conservatives as a dazzling talent on paper — and has not lifted a finger to explore a bid for the White House. Yet the former member of the House GOP leadership team is listening to those who hope he will run: Pence has met with prominent conservative activists and heard out supporters making the case for 2016.
“One thing that surprises me is who is urging Gov. Pence to consider the presidency. It goes beyond his inner circle to folks I’d have thought were already committed to other candidates,” said Kellyanne Conway, the pollster for Pence’s 2012 gubernatorial campaign. “They know the governor is 110 percent focused on his day job, but they want a full-spectrum conservative who has experience and trust in all of the main policy spheres.”
Social conservative leader and 2000 presidential candidate Gary Bauer singled out the “formidable” Pence for praise: “The question that remains to be answered is whether Gov. Pence will feel a compelling rationale and touch all the bases with his family and so forth, to see whether he wants to go for it.”
Tickets and sponsorships for the ALGOP summer dinner are available HERE. For inquiries you can reach the ALGOP staff at (205) 212-5900.
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