Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, is seeking a second term as the United States congressman representing Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District.
Pence, 63, officially filed a declaration of candidacy Thursday with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office in Indianapolis in preparation for the May 5 Indiana primary.
As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, no other candidate had filed to run for the Sixth Congressional District, according to the most recent information available from the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. The filing deadline is noon Feb. 7.
“I had so much fun the last year, I decided I’d do it again,” he said in an interview at The Republic on Thursday morning.
Pence, a small-business owner and former Marine, holds the congressional office that his brother, Vice President Mike Pence, held before a successful 2012 gubernatorial bid and joining Donald Trump’s presidential ticket in 2016.
In Bartholomew County, Rep. Greg Pence received 16,161 votes (60.86%), while Democrat Jeannine Lee Lake, 50, received 9,607 votes (36.18%), and Libertarian Thomas Ferkinhoff, 56, of Richmond, received 782 votes (2.95%). All sought political office for the first time in 2018.
Lake, a community activist, businesswoman and former reporter for The Muncie Star, said she intends to file to run for the Democratic nomination for Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District. Lake said she plans to file on Feb. 3.
Rep. Greg Pence has been a staunch Trump supporter and has repeatedly called the impeachment inquiry against the president a “sham,” voting against impeaching the president and sending two articles of impeachment to the Senate, where Trump expects to be acquitted.
The president is charged with abuse of power over his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden, using military aid to the country as leverage, according to The Associated Press. Trump is also charged with obstructing Congress’ probe into the matter.
“I don’t think the president did anything wrong,” Pence said in an earlier interview.
Rep. Greg Pence is one of six members of the House who have voted in line with Trump’s position 100% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, a news website that uses statistical and data analysis.
He said veterans’ issues and transportation and infrastructure would continue to be among his major priorities if elected to a second term.
“I’m ready to serve again,” he said.
