Former Vice President halted his presidential campaign on Saturday, citing financial constraints and a shifting direction within the Republican Party, which no longer aligned with his longstanding conservative beliefs.
Pence made the surprising announcement during the annual Republican Jewish Coalition convention in Las Vegas.
“I have come to realize that this is not my time. Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president, effective immediately,” he declared on stage. “I have no regrets. The only thing more difficult than falling short would have been never having taken the chance at all.”
According to his spokesperson, Devin O’Malley, Pence selected the convention as the venue for his announcement because “the conflict in Israel exemplifies the populist and traditional conservative values that Pence has long championed.”
“The RJC provided him a final opportunity to make his case before a supportive audience,” O’Malley added.
Following Pence’s announcement, Republican candidates praised his character. “He has been a man of faith and a man of service,” said former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tweeted, “Vice President Mike Pence is a principled man of faith who has tirelessly worked to advance the conservative cause.”
Pence faced difficulties gaining traction in a crowded primary field that heavily favored former . Since breaking ties with his former running mate following his certification of the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021, Pence had increasingly delineated a stark contrast between himself and Trump during his campaign.
“When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to govern as a conservative, and together, we did,” he proclaimed at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in September. “However, it is important for Republicans to recognize that he and his imitators in this Republican primary no longer make such a commitment today.”
Pence diverged from Trump and those he labeled as “imitators” within the Republican primary on topics such as abortion, support for Ukraine, and national debt. He advocated for federal abortion legislation to set a 15-week minimum national standard, increased military assistance to Ukraine, and Social Security reform to reduce the national debt.
Despite his positions and experience, Pence failed to attract widespread support within the GOP, as party members turned against him after he certified the 2020 election results.
The lack of broad support resulted in fundraising challenges for Pence’s campaign. The latest campaign finance filing revealed $600,000 in debt and only $1.2 million available in cash. Despite meeting the donor criteria for the first two Republican primary debates, the campaign struggled to gather the required 70,000 individual donors for the third debate.
Pence himself acknowledged the evolving nature of the Republican Party, stating in an interview with NBC News last month, “The positions I take as a traditional conservative increasingly diverge from those of the rest of the field. The party is engaged in a debate about its future.”
“It’s a debate about whether the Republican Party will continue to adhere to the sensible conservative agenda that has defined our movement for the past 50 years, or if we will succumb to the allure of populist ideals disconnected from conservative principles,” he added.
Pence primarily concentrated his campaign efforts in Iowa, where he had already visited over half of the state’s 99 counties as promised.
On June 7, he had announced his candidacy in Ankeny, Iowa, and proceeded to conduct more than 40 events in the first caucus state during his 10 visits, mainly consisting of small-scale town halls and meet-and-greets.
Despite his widespread recognition, Pence continuously reintroduced himself at every campaign stop, emphasizing, “I may be well-known, but I am not known well.”
This article was originally published on Reference
