Pence returning to Iowa for Ernst’s 'Roast and Ride’ amid 2024 speculation

Pence joins Nikki Haley as special guest at prominent Iowa GOP caucus stop

May. 15, 2023 4:45 pm

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Linn Eagles Luncheon and Fireside Chat at the Cedar Rapids Country Club in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Pence also signed copies of his book "So Help Me God" after the luncheon and chat. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Former Vice President Mike Pence will speak and ride a motorcycle at Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser June 3.

“Looking forward to being back in Iowa with @joniernst for the 2023 Roast and Ride!” Pence tweeted.

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The charity fundraiser has become a prominent Iowa caucus stop for Republican presidential candidates since Ernst took office and launched the event in 2015. That year, seven GOP candidates who ran for president in 2016 attended the motorcycle ride, hog roast and rally.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa puts on her goggles before riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle during her annual Roast and Ride in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. (Bryon Houlgrave /The Des Moines Register via AP) — Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa puts on her goggles before riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle during her annual Roast and Ride in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. (Bryon Houlgrave / Des Moines Register via AP)

According to Ernst, Pence is “an avid Harley-Davidson rider.” She said she looks forward to him “joining us for both the morning Ride and the big rally!”

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Pence has said he plans to make a decision on whether to launch a 2024 presidential bid “well before late June.” The former vice president would enter what is expected to be a crowded field for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which includes his former boss, Donald Trump.

Pence was last in Iowa in late April, where he joined eight other potential or already declared GOP presidential candidates at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fundraiser in Clive, courting support from Iowa’s influential evangelical voters and faith leaders.

Ernst last week announced Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, also will join her as a special guest at the fundraiser.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a town hall at Legacy Manufacturing in Marion, Iowa, on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a town hall at Legacy Manufacturing in Marion, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Every potential Republican challenger in the 2024 GOP primary has been invited to the event, with Haley the first to say she would attend.

Pence and Haley have already appeared at events with Ernst this year. Both sat down with Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for foreign policy forums through the Bastion Institute, a conservative foreign policy organization.

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The June 3 event will begin with the motorcycle ride at 10:30 a.m., with food and speeches from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Tickets and more information are available at https://bit.ly/3WcQmfi.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com