Reports indicate Indiana governor Mike Pence is well positioned to be Donald Trump’s vice-presidential selection. But a Pence spokesman says the Republican remains “focused” on his reelection campaign.
“Governor Pence is focused on serving Hoosiers in his capacity as governor and on his run for 2016—as governor,” Pence campaign spokesman Marc Lotter told THE WEEKLY STANDARD late Monday night. The rumored VP pick has maintained an active public schedule in the state, joining an annual bike ride for an organization supporting the families of fallen law enforcement officers and touring two of Indy’s most troubled neighborhoods with an anti-crime group Monday.
Buzz about Pence’s place on the presidential ticket from a weekend report hadn’t waned overnight Monday into Tuesday, and officials were preparing behind the scenes for the possibility they would have to choose his replacement on the gubernatorial ballot by a Friday deadline. Pence is up for reelection this year, and Indiana law would forbid him from seeking both the governorship and vice-presidency.
With no official word, however, that process is just a contingency. And there have been no signs that an announcement of any sort is imminent. On Monday, Trump himself said that he’d make up his mind on his choice in the next three to four days.
Conversations with several Hoosier Republicans and people in Pence’s orbit suggest it’s still a matter of if and not necessarily when, ahead of two events featuring both Pence and Trump in the Indianapolis area Tuesday evening. Pence will first headline an Indianapolis-based fundraiser for Trump in the evening, which features a host of big-name Indiana pols. In addition to Pence, Senator Dan Coats is at the top of the invite, as well as RNC chief Reince Priebus, according to a copy obtained by TWS.
Pence will then introduce Trump at a rally just outside the capital city—an appearance viewed as a possible audition for the job of the presumptive presidential nominee’s running mate. There is no evidence that Trump will use the speech to announce that Pence is joining the ticket.
The delay has some political observers confused, given the rapidity with which talk of a Trump-Pence team has escalated and the limited time frame state Republicans have to move on a substitute as their gubernatorial nominee. After all, “Something clearly happened in New Jersey that led people to believe that he was going to be the pick,” a source tells me. “Because when he came back [to Indiana], that’s when the madness started.”
The Pence and Trump families spent some time with each other the weekend before July 4 at Trump National Golf Club, during which the two men “talked about our country … talked about the progress we’ve made in Indiana,” Pence said. While the meeting was characterized as positive, “nothing was offered, nothing was accepted,” he added.
He also said that “we’ll be very respectful” of the impending deadline for a candidate to withdraw from the Indiana governor’s race—a comment that has taken on more urgency than when he made it 10 days ago.
