Mike Pence

Mike Pence
Governor of Indiana
Incumbent
Tenure
January 14, 2013 - Present
Term ends
2017
Years in position 12
Party	Republican
Predecessor	Mitch Daniels (R)
Report an officeholder change
Compensation
Base salary	$111,688
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 6, 2012
Election date	November 8, 2016
Campaign $	$14,841,352
Term limits	None
Prior offices
U.S. House of Representatives, Indiana, District 6
2001-2013
Education
High school	Columbus North High School
Bachelor's	Hanover College (1981)
J.D.	Indiana University School of Law (1986)
Personal
Date of birth	June 7, 1959
Place of birth	Columbus, Indiana
Profession	Attorney, Talk Show Host
Religion	Evangelical Christian
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (b. June 7, 1959, in Columbus, Indiana) is the 50th and current Republican Governor of Indiana. He is serving his first term, having won the seat in 2012. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary, and defeated former House Speaker John Gregg (D), Rupert Boneham (L) and write-in candidate Donnie Harold Harris in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Pence was sworn into office on January 14, 2013, and his term will expire in January of 2017.

From 2001 to 2013, Pence served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. As a congressman, he maintained a record of staunch opposition to tax hikes and federal health care reform as outlined under the Affordable Care Act. His final year in the U.S. House, Pence was rated a "far-right Republican leader" based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack.

Before entering politics, Pence built a resume covering a wide array of professions. His background includes working as an admissions counselor at his alma mater, Hanover College, as well as an attorney and a talk show host.

An analysis of Republican governors by Nate Silver of the New York Times in April 2013 ranked Pence as the 2nd most conservative governor in the country.

Pence will come up for re-election for the first time in November of 2016. He was considered a possible presidential candidate in 2016. However, he announced on May 19, 2015, that he would not seek the presidency.

Biography

Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana, graduated from Hanover College in 1981 and earned his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in 1986.

After graduating from Hanover, Pence worked as an admissions counselor at the college until 1983. He then went to law school and worked as a private practice attorney from 1986 to 1990. From 1991 to 1994 he served as President of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and was a talk show host on Network Indiana from 1994 to 2000.

Political career

Indiana Governor (2013-Present)

Pence has served as governor of Indiana since January 14, 2013.

Issues

State-funded news outlet

In January 2015, Pence announced plans for a state-run news outlet called Just IN that would have covered breaking news, profiles and other pieces issued by state communications officials. The taxpayer-funded website was slated for a February 2015 launch under the oversight of former reporter Bill McCleery and the governor's communication staff. The Indianapolis Star found at least $100,000 in salaries for two full-time employees while trying to determine costs for the new website. Officials with the governor's office noted that Just IN would have helped smaller newspapers with limited resources. On January 29, 2015, Pence pulled the proposal due to negative reaction about the website's potential influence on news coverage.

Journalists throughout the state criticized the governor's efforts for competing with independent journalism and overstepping the office's powers. Jack Ronald, the publisher of the Portland Commercial Review, argued that university extension services already provide effective news coverage and Just IN would have provided news from the administration's point of view. Matthew Tully of the Star also criticized the initiative by saying, "The state's conservative governor is creating his own news agency, one that will seek to compete with the traditional media and be funded by taxpayers. You can't make this stuff up, unless you work at the Onion, I guess."

Veto override

On June 19, 2013, the Indiana legislature overturned Pence's veto of a bill that would retroactively authorize a local tax. Lawmakers overrode the governor's veto in a 68-23 vote in the House and 34-12 vote in the Senate With an interesting twist, Republican legislators overwhelmingly voted against the Republican Governor, while most Democrats supported his veto. One of three bills vetoed by Pence during the session, the Jackson-Pulaski tax fix addressed a 15-year-old county income tax which had been imposed to fund the construction of jail facilities with the stipulation that the tax be lowered by 1% after the first several years. The reduction was not implemented and thus county residents paid an additional 1% tax that they were legally not required to pay. The bill that was passed by a huge majority of legislatures and subsequently vetoed by Pence, would allow that money to be kept and not returned to the tax payers as would have otherwise been necessary.

Pence’s communications director Christy Denault, said that he “stands by his veto, and regrets that it was not upheld by the Indiana General Assembly today. While this bill contained some positive provisions, the Governor believes that when Hoosiers pay taxes that are not owed, they should be offered relief. Hoosiers can be assured that Governor Pence and his administration will continue to put taxpayers first.” Republicans argued that the veto itself would be unfair for taxpayers as state tax payers would have to make up the money spent on calculating refunds to the tax payers in Jackson and Pulaski counties. The bill also included tax breaks and benefits for veterans and veteran families that many legislators were unwilling to see vetoed. “Sustaining this veto will be a tax increase on the innocent spouses of disabled (and) deceased veterans, a tax increase through no fault of their own,” said Senator Brandt Hershman (R-7). “Sustaining the veto will be a vote against the innocent taxpayers in Pulaski and Jackson counties who still regardless of our action here ... have to fund a jail.”

Tax reform

Pence made tax reform, namely a 10 percent income-tax rate cut, a priority for 2013. While he did not get the 10 percent cut he advocated, Pence did accomplish his goal of cutting state taxes. Legislators cut the income tax by 5 percent and also killed the death tax. Speaker of the House Brian Bosma (R) said of the deal, “What we ended up doing was putting together a collective tax package that results in the largest tax cut in our state’s history, about $1.1 billion dollars.”

Stance on Syrian refugee resettlement

Main article: U.S. governors and their responses to Syrian refugees

Following the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015, in which members of the Islamic State (ISIS) killed at least 129 people and wounded more than 350, reports surfaced showing that one of the terrorists responsible for the attacks in Paris may have come to France posing as a Syrian refugee. Many governors issued statements of support or opposition to President Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 new Syrian refugees into the United States. Pence had conditional opposition to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state of Indiana. According to The Indianapolis Star, Gov. Pence was directing all state agencies to stop resettling Syrian refugees in Indiana until the federal government could provide assurances that "proper security measures are in place." He said that his "first responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of all Hoosiers."

LGBT civil rights

In his 2016 state of the state address, Pence said he would prioritize religious freedom in the debate over civil rights protections for gay and transgender people. His half-hour televised speech, delivered before legislators on January 12, was consistent with his stated stance during the spring 2015 debate over Indiana's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he signed in March. That law nullified other state laws that "substantially burden" an individual's ability to follow one's religious beliefs. In his state of the state address, Pence said that people should not be mistreated because of "who they love or what they believe" but that "no one should ever fear persecution because of their deeply held religious beliefs."

He added, "I will not support any bill that diminishes the religious freedom of Hoosiers or interferes with the constitutional rights of our citizens to live out their beliefs in worship, service or work."

The group Indiana Competes, which represents business interests such as Cummins Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. and the NCAA, expressed disappointment with Pence's stance. Spokesman Peter Hanscom said Pence's words would not stop discrimination against gay people in employment, housing and public accommodation.

There were bills pending in the legislature at the time of Pence's remarks that mixed new LGBT protections with religious exemptions, but Pence did not specifically mention any bills.

U.S. House of Representatives (2001-2013)

Committee assignments

2011-2012

• United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia (Vice Chair)
• United States House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet

Fiscal Cliff

Pence voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Controversies

Obamacare and 9/11

During a June 2012 GOP House meeting, Pence was reported to have compared the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on "Obamacare" to the terrorist attacks of September 11. Pence immediately apologized, stating, "My remarks at the Republican Conference following the Supreme Court decision were thoughtless. I certainly did not intend to minimize any tragedy our nation has faced and I apologize."

Analysis

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Pence paid his congressional staff a total of $1,122,773 in 2011. He ranked 9th on the list of the highest paid Republican representative staff salaries and ranked 49th overall of the highest paid representative staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Indiana ranked 35th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

Staff bonuses

According to an analysis by CNN, Pence was one of nearly 25 percent of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Pence's staff was given an apparent $32,909.25 in bonus money.

2011 National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Pence ranked 19th in the conservative rankings in 2011.

Voting with party

2011

Mike Pence voted with the Republican Party 94 of the time, which ranked 74 among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.

On The Issues Vote Match

Mike Pence's Vote Match results from On The Issues.

See also: On The Issues Vote Match

On The Issues conducts a VoteMatch analysis of elected officials based on 20 issue areas. Rather than relying on incumbents to complete the quiz themselves, the VoteMatch analysis is conducted using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts, or citations from books authored by or about the candidate.

On The Issues organization logo

The table below contains the results of analysis compiled by staff at On The Issues.

On The Issues Vote Quiz
Economic Issues		Social Issues
Issue	Stance	Issue	Stance
Legally require hiring women & minorities	Strongly Opposes	Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right	Strongly Opposes
Expand Obamacare	Neutral	Comfortable with same-sex marriage	Strongly Opposes
Vouchers for school choice	Strongly Favors	Keep God in the public sphere	Strongly Favors
Absolute right to gun ownership	Strongly Favors	No "rights" to clean air and water	Strongly Opposes
Higher taxes on the wealthy	Strongly Opposes	Stricter punishment reduces crime	Strongly Favors
Support & expand free trade	Strongly Favors	Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens	Strongly Favors
More enforcement of the right to vote	Favors	Maintain U.S. sovereignty from UN	Strongly Opposes
Prioritize green energy	Favors	Expand the military	Strongly Opposes
Stimulus better than market-led recovery	Strongly Opposes	Stay out of Iran	Strongly Favors
Privatize Social Security	Strongly Opposes	Never legalize marijuana	Strongly Opposes
Note: Information last updated: May 20, 2015. If you notice the rating has changed, email us.

2016 presidential endorsement

✓ Pence endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

See also: Endorsements for Donald Trump

Pence had previously endorsed Ted Cruz.

Elections

2016

See also: Indiana gubernatorial election, 2016 and Indiana races we're watching, 2016

Pence filed as a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2016. He was again facing John Gregg (D) in the November 8, 2016, general election. Because no other Democratic or Republican candidates filed for the primary, the race was a rematch of the 2012 election. It is only the second time in Indiana history, and the first since Whig Noah Noble defeated Democrat James Read in 1831 and 1834, that two candidates for governor have faced each other in consecutive elections.

Pence approval ratings suffered after he had signed Indiana's version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in March 2015. A survey from November of that year found that 47 percent of residents approved of Pence’s performance, a significant drop when compared to his approval rating of 62 percent the year before.The legislation had sparked criticism from Gregg and groups that argued that the law would allow for discrimination against LGBT residents; supporters of the law argued that it would protect the religious freedom of individuals and private companies. An amendment was signed into law in April 2015, which included language prohibiting discrimination against LGBT residents.

In February 2016, Pence announced that he would nominate Eric Holcomb as lieutenant governor, which would have made Pence the first governor to run for re-election with a new lieutenant governor on the ballot. Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, Pence's running mate in 2012, resigned in February 2016 to pursue the position of president at a local community college. Holcomb will remain on the ticket as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Just prior to withdrawing from the race in July 2016, Pence had reported $3 million more raised in campaign contributions. Pence reported $8,295,635 in campaign contributions compared to Gregg's $5,380,301.

Campaign themes

Gregg ran on the theme of leadership, saying Governor Pence's record has shown a lack thereof. Pence responded that he will defend his record, which he said included the private sector creating 139,000 new private-sector jobs during his administration and $5 billion in business investment. He also cited public improvements to schools, infrastructure and the health care system.

He added,

“	But there's still work to be done ... to bring our state to our rightful place as the leading state in the Midwest and the best place in America to start a business, grow a business, get a job, raise a family and retire.	”

Potential presidential bid

See also: Mike Pence possible presidential campaign, 2016

Pence was considered a "dark horse" Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election. However, he announced that he would not seek the presidency on May 19, 2015.

2012

See also: Indiana gubernatorial election, 2012

Pence won election as Governor of Indiana in 2012. He was slated to face Fishers businessman Jim Wallace in the May 8, 2012 Republican primary election, but Wallace was removed from the ballot by the Indiana Election Commission on February 24, 2012 for failing to receive the requisite 500 signatures per congressional district. Thus, Pence was unopposed in the partisan primary, and defeated former House Speaker John Gregg (D), Rupert Boneham (L) and write-in candidate Donnie Harold Harris in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Governor/Lieutenant Governor of Indiana General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Gregg / Vi Simpson	46.6%	1,200,016
	Republican	Mike Pence / Sue Ellspermann	49.5%	1,275,424
	Libertarian	Rupert Boneham / Brad Klopfenstein	4%	101,868
	Independent	Donnie Harold Harris / George Fish	0%	21
Total Votes				2,577,329
Election results via Indiana Secretary of State

Governor of Indiana Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike Pence	100%	554,412
Total Votes		554,412
Election results via Indiana Secretary of State.

Issue positions

• Economic development:

In terms of economic development, Pence said he would seek to make the system more proactive. "We would identify personnel in the IEDC with essentially an investment background that we would recruit and say, 'We want you to go to each community in this state and evaluate the assets on the ground. And we want you to meet with business leaders,'" he stated.

• Health Insurance:

In a letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) in August 2012, Pence said that if elected governor he would not set up a health insurance exchange in Indiana, leaving the job to the federal government instead. “I believe Indiana should take no part in this deeply flawed health care bureaucracy,” he stated.

• Jobs:

The major issue of the 2012 campaign was jobs, with each candidate detailing their plan to get citizens back to work. Pence said he would create a "jobs Cabinet" made up of business leaders and investment specialists that would support startup businesses.

Endorsements

Pence's endorsements included:

• Indiana National Federation of Independent Business

2010

On November 2, 2010, Pence won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Barry Welsh (D) and Talmage "T.J" Thompson, Jr. (L) in the general election.

U.S. House of Representatives, Indiana's 6th Congressional District, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Pence Incumbent	66.6%	126,027
	Democratic	Barry Welsh	29.9%	56,647
	Libertarian	Talmage "T.J" Thompson, Jr.	3.5%	6,635
Total Votes				189,309

Campaign donors

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The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Mike Pence campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2012	Governor of Indiana		$14,841,352
Grand total raised			$14,841,352
Source: [ Follow the Money]

2012

Pence won re-election to the position of Governor of Indiana in 2012. During that election cycle, Pence raised a total of $14,841,352.

Governor of Indiana 2012 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Mike Pence's campaign in 2012
Republican Governors Association	$1,125,425
Indiana Republican Party	$811,505
Dean V. White	$425,000
Mike Pence CMTE	$319,394
Sue Ellspermann for Lt. Governor	$300,000
Total Raised in 2012	$14,841,352
Total Votes received in 2012	1,275,424
Cost of each vote received	$11.64
Source:Follow the Money

2010

Breakdown of the source of Pence's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Pence won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Pence's campaign committee raised a total of $2,684,316 and spent $2,654,178 .

U.S. House, Indiana, District 6, 2010 - Mike Pence Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$2,684,316
Total Spent	$2,654,178
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$115
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$5,604
Top contributors to Mike Pence's campaign committee
Krieg Devault LLP	$18,700
Blue Cross/Blue Shield	$18,000
Eli Lilly & Co	$17,200
Wells Fargo	$15,498
Pence-Friedel Developers	$14,400
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Retired	$235,200
Securities & Investment	$113,564
Republican/Conservative	$106,205
Health Professionals	$84,283
Lawyers/Law Firms	$83,888

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Pence's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $11,015 and $169,000. That averages to $90,007.50, which was lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133. Between 2004 and 2012, Pence's calculated net worth increased by an average of 155 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2014, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.

Mike Pence Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2004	$15,803
2012	$211,510
Growth from 2004 to 2012:	1,238%
Average annual growth:	155%
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

Personal

Pence and his wife Karen have been married for 26 years, and are based in Columbus, IN. They have three children, Michael, Charlotte and Audrey.

State profile

Demographic data for Indiana
	Indiana	U.S.
Total population:	6,612,768	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	35,826	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	9.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	87.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	24.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,255	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Indiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Indiana

Indiana voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Indiana, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Indiana had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Indiana coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Indiana
• United States congressional delegations from Indiana
• Public policy in Indiana
• Endorsers in Indiana
• Indiana fact checks
• More...

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mike Pence Indiana Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Mike Pence - Google News

See also

• Governor of Indiana
• Indiana gubernatorial election, 2012
• United States House of Representatives
• Indiana's 6th Congressional District

External links

• Indiana Governor Mike Pence
• MikePence.com (campaign website)

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • Nat. Governors Assoc.
  • NNDB
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Wikipedia
• Executive actions:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Fact-checking:
  • PolitiFact
• Financial (state level):
  • Follow The Money
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Works by or about:
  • WorldCat
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
  • IMDb
• Media coverage:
  • New York Times
  • Washington Post

Congress

• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • OpenCongress
  • Roll Call
• Financial (federal level):
  • FEC contributions
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Voting record:
  • Washington Post

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mitch Daniels (R)	Indiana Governor January 14, 2013-Present	Succeeded by NA
Preceded by David McIntosh	U.S. House of Representatives - Indiana District 6 2001–2013	Succeeded by Luke Messer (R)