According to a top adviser to the former vice president, a super PAC supporting an expected Mike Pence presidential bid will debut in mid-May, while his campaign is stepping up conversations with consultants and activists in early primary states.
A second source close to the Pence campaign verified the PAC’s timeframe to AWN, adding it would be “up and running shortly.”
The foundation of the PAC would be the precursor to a formal campaign that would place a high value on performing well in Iowa. Pence, an evangelical Christian, is attempting to rebuild the coalition that helped Republican candidates win Iowa in the past, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2016, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) in 2012, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) in 2008. None eventually earned the nomination, but Iowa is a vital early state that might set the stage for a frantic presidential primary.
“The path starts in Iowa,” said the senior adviser, who requested anonymity to disclose internal campaign discussions. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out — even a political reporter like you can figure it out: That’s the path.”
Chip Saltsman, who helped Huckabee win in Iowa in 2008, has been coaching Pence on his early state approach. And Pence’s team is also talking about the PAC with Mike Biundo, the New Hampshire-based veteran of nine presidential campaigns — one of only a handful of Republican consultants to have won both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary — who served as Trump’s national senior adviser in 2016. Biundo is also in conversations with other campaigns, according to a person familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.
“South Carolina is crowded,” Pence’s top adviser remarked, alluding to former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, both of whom have extensive ties to the state. Pence’s still-developing campaign is also upbeat by the vice president’s turnout in New Hampshire.
“We’re also under no illusion that this isn’t going to be front-runner status on day one,” the senior adviser added.
President Donald Trump, Pence’s former boss, remains in first place in the primary polls, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second. In recent polls, Pence has been polled in third place, hovering around 6%.
The formation of the PAC would be the latest step in Pence’s months-long effort to test the waters for an unprecedented campaign in which the most recent former vice president would take on the former president of his own party. Pence testified to a federal grand jury probing Trump’s attempt to sabotage the 2020 election on Thursday.
Pence previously told CBS News that he would make a final decision on a presidential run “well before late June.”
A representative for Pence did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
