Mike Pence, born and raised in Columbus, Indiana, was the Governor of Indiana and is now the Vice-President elect for the US. Before entering private practice, Pence graduated from Hanover College in 1981 and earned a degree in law from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law. When he lost two US congressional seats in 1988 and 1990, he decided to become a conservative radio and television talk show host that lasted from 1994 to 1999. He later served as the chairman of the House Republican Conference from 2009 to 2011. During this time, Pence positioned himself as a principled ideologue and supporter of the Tea Party movement, claiming that he was “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order.”

Later, Pence, as a staunch social conservative, was elected to the United States Congress in 2000 and represented Indiana's 2nd congressional district and Indiana’s 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. Ever since he first took office, Pence had achieved the largest state tax cut in Indiana history along with also lowering the business personal property tax and corporate income tax. His aim was to strengthen the state’s competitive edge that attracted new investment and good-paying jobs for the inhabitants of Indiana or Hoosiers. In order to increase school choice and educational opportunity for Hoosier families he signed the first law that gave State funding for preschool education in Indiana. In addition to this law, he addressed Indiana’s skills gap by making career and technical education a priority in every Indiana high school. Overall, the state under his leadership had invested more than ＄800 million in new money for roads and bridges in Indiana.

Pence’s views on important issues sometimes do not correspond with Donald Trump’s ideas, but for the most part, they are very similar. First, on immigration, he voted for increased security measures on the borders and overall stricter immigration laws. As a congressman, Pence supported many legislative efforts against same-sex marriage and abortion and for increased gun rights, free trade, and the No Child Left Behind policy. Overall, Pence limits abortion access and questions climate change, which are both controversial sides of important issues, be he is well known and respected in Republican circles and we have yet to see what impact he will make as Vice President of the US for the next four years.

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