DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is stepping up his outreach in Iowa ahead of a possible 2024 presidential campaign by rallying conservatives against policies that affirm transgender people in schools, like the one adopted in his eastern Iowa district last year.
Efforts by Advancing American Freedom, a group formed by Pence in 2021 and funded by his supporters, will include digital ads, public meetings, canvassing and possibly radio and television spots. That’s as a federal court in Minnesota is scheduled next week to hear a case brought by a group representing parents of students in the Linn-Mar Community School District outside Cedar Rapids.
“The strength of our nation is tied to the strength of our families, and we cannot stand by as the radical left tries to indoctrinate our children behind the backs of their parents,” Pence said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. “America’s Freedom Advancement will not rest until parents’ rights are restored in Iowa and across the country.”
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
The Linn-Mar board last year adopted a policy that allows students to request a gender support plan to begin their social transition at school and without parental consent. A group representing the parents sued to overturn the policy.
The planned budget for the effort is more than $1 million, and the push will last several months, said Pence’s aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Thursday’s official announcement.
Movement from outside groups – separate from potential Pence candidates – as school policies, particularly involving gender identification and sexual orientation, have been an early focus of the 2024 Republican presidential prospect.
The issue is especially relevant in Iowa, because of court cases and the Republican-controlled Legislature that proposed legislation that would prohibit schools from supporting students’ social changes in gender identity.
Pence’s outreach comes before he travels to early voting states to headline an event next Wednesday in Cedar Rapids. Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador, is planning a campaign across Iowa after announcing her 2024 campaign, while South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson are expected to visit Iowa later in the month.