COLUMBUS, Ind. — When Mike Pence shows up at almost every campaign meet and greet, he jokes with his wife, “We’re known, but not very well known.”
Those who have been watching Pence’s run the longest, in his hometown of Columbus, Indiana, illustrate the support base he is bringing to the presidential race, and also some of the big obstacles standing in his way.
The former governor and vice president of Indiana can still count on ardent support in local Republican circles, from people who twice supported Trump and say they are now ready for a Pence presidency.
“We know him personally, and that has more value, I think, than reading and finding out what other people are saying about that individual,” Bartholomew County Councilman Jorge Morales said. “It’s not just Mike. I mean, two of his brothers live here. His mother lives here. So we see them in the community all the time.”
That community is a city of just over 50,000 where Pence was born and raised. After two unsuccessful congressional runs in 1988 and 1990, Pence was elected to represent his hometown district in Congress in 2000 and served until becoming governor in 2013. Now Pence’s older brother, Greg, represents the area in the Chamber.
Bartholomew County Treasurer Barbara Hackman, who previously served as the county Republican Party chair, attended Pence’s presidential announcement speech on June 7 in Ankeny, Iowa.
“He hasn’t changed from when he was our congressman to when he was, you know, governor, to when he was vice president and when I saw him the other day in Iowa,” he said.
While Pence may not have changed, the Republican Party has. And outside of local party officials who know Pence personally, several Columbus-area voters say their views of the former vice president have changed.
“I would have supported [his run] a few years ago, but then, I don’t know, he had a bit of a downturn with the public,” said Alyssa Lucas, 25, of Columbus.
Fred Sanders, 76, of Flatrock in neighboring Shelby County, called Pence a “flour talker.”
“Oh, he was a good governor,” he said. “But he was not a good vice president.”
Pence has been ranking third in national Republican presidential primary polls for most of 2023, according to the FiveThirtyEight average. Like other polls, the most recent NBC News poll shows former President Donald Trump with a commanding lead.
The June poll also shows deep resistance to Pence among parts of the GOP: 33% of Republican primary voters held a positive view of Pence, while 37% held a negative view. Only Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had net negative ratings among Republican primary voters, who were asked about their feelings toward Pence, Christie, Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott and the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
Bartholomew County Republican Vice President Josh Barnett said Pence’s actions to certify the results of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, raising campaign skepticism among some Republican voters, show that the former vice president is consistent”.
“He showed it with his courage on a very difficult day in American history, but he’s shown it all his life so you know what you’re going to get, and people are going to have to decide if that’s the direction they want. go,” Barnett said.
Columbus police officer Matt Harris lived next door to Pence when he served in Congress and believes the lack of national support is due to Pence’s “quieter personality.”
“He’s definitely a doer, but he’s not the showman that President Trump is,” he said.
Like Harris, Bruce Shearer, 81, of Columbus, sees that as a positive.
“We are Republicans, but we are tired of Trump’s mouth,” Shearer said of himself and his wife. “We think he accomplished more than anyone, but you know, he doesn’t know when to shut up.”
Shearer said he would support Pence but doesn’t think he will get the nomination because “there aren’t enough Christians like him” in the Republican primary electorate.
“I just don’t think he gets a majority of the votes. Because even in the Republican camp, there are people who are not, are not behind him,” he said of Pence. “So I wish they were. He is the man for us.”
Milo Smith, who represented Columbus in the Indiana state House of Representatives from 2006 to 2018, including when Pence was governor, said “Mike is going to have to get in the ring and put on gloves more than ever.”
“I hope you don’t do it in a way that makes you uncomfortable. But you have to identify some of the problems and point out some of the differences and how you can do better,” said Smith, who is a strong supporter of Pence. “And you’re going to have to take your gloves off a little bit to do that, in my opinion, or it’s never going to make itself felt outside of Indiana.”
