Former Vice President Mike Pence is looking to raise $18 million in campaign contributions for a potential White House bid, according to Axios.
Advancing American Freedom, a non-profit organization with ties to Pence, is behind the fundraising effort which Axios reported “is shaping up as a vehicle for testing the waters and building the infrastructure needed for a White House bid.”
The Axios report said AAF is staffed by some of Pence’s top allies and ex-aides, including former chief of staff Marc Short, political adviser Marty Obst, and former senior Trump White House staffer Paul Teller.
Advancing American Freedom was launched in April and has reportedly spent “about $60,000” on digital ads promoting the former vice president and asking for contributions. Axios quoted an AAF source who said donors at a recent retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, were asked to make contributions. The group has also enlisted three fundraising firms to help build up its war chest, according to filings with state charity regulators.
The Washington Examiner on Tuesday reported that Pence had participated in several public events that could lead to a possible 2024 Presidential run. Pence in recent days traveled to Nebraska to headline the annual “steak fry” hosted by Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts and launched a podcast, “American Freedom.”
He also delivered remarks at the rededication of a memorial in Indiana to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and filed an amicus brief through AAF asking the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark abortion rights case, Roe v. Wade.
The Examiner report pointed out that Pence was not the only Republican seen as a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate. At the Ricketts’ Nebraska event, the former vice president was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A Roaring Patriot story Tuesday said Cruz and DeSantis and others “have indicated that if former President Donald Trump decides to make a third try at his old job — something he has strongly hinted he will do — they will step out of the way.”
Pence has not.
