Pence and Trump: From running mates to rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination

Addressing a crowd of roughly 1,000 Republican activists in the state that leads off the GOP presidential nominating calendar, former Vice President Mike Pence this past weekend teased a major announcement.

"Come this Wednesday, I’m announcing in Iowa, Pence said to cheers and applause as he spoke at Sen. Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride, her annual motorcycle ride and barbeque that benefits veterans.

This year Ernst’s gathering attracted all the declared Republican presidential candidates except former President Trump. Pence’s running mate in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections is the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination polls as he makes his third straight White House run.

The former vice president, who joined Ernst on her motorcycle ride, was the only one of the 2024 speakers at the senator’s event who’s yet to launch a White House campaign, but that will change on Wednesday when Pence is expected to declare his candidacy at an event just outside of Des Moines, Iowa’s capital city.

Pence will enter the 2024 race polling the mid-single digits, far behind Trump and also significantly trailing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who trails Trump by double-digits but is firmly in second place, ahead of the former vice president and the rest of the field of actual and likely candidates.