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Good evening and welcome to Iowa where the 2024 campaign for the White House is heating up we're alive at Grandview University in Des Moines for CNN's Town Hall with former vice president Mike Pence.

I'm Dana Bash. Tonight we hear from a brand new candidate in the Republican field former vice president Mike Pence announced his run for the White House earlier today a move unprecedented in modern political history a former vice president running against the president he served under.

Pence enters a raised dominated by that former boss Donald Trump and he will be battling a growing number of rivals for the chance to take on president Joe Biden.

This evening's event is about the voters and the issues that will help them determine who wins the Republican nomination. Tonight Iowa voters will have the opportunity to question the former vice president directly and I will have some questions of my own.

This Town Hall is part of the Republican primary process and so by design in the audience tonight are voters who say they plan to participate in the Iowa Republican caucus is both Republicans and also independence who plan to register as Republican.

The audience comes from all over the state and is representative of Iowa Republicans to find tonight's questioners we reached out to Republican affiliated groups as well as business groups, farm associations, parent groups, young professional organizations, religious groups and advocacy organizations.

In addition to the voters asking the questions guests of the Pence campaign and the university are also in the audience we have asked everyone here to be respectful so that voters in the room and at home have a chance to hear from the candidate.

Now please welcome former vice president Mike Pence.

Thank you.

Thank you.

First let's get down to business happy birthday.

I mentioned this a vice president running against a president he served with is incredibly unusual.

It hasn't happened in modern history. Why did you decide to run against your former boss?

Thank you. Thank you to CNN for hosting the Town Hall and thank you to all the good people of Iowa for the warm welcome tonight.

It's a real privilege for Karen and I to be with you and come here to the first in the nation state to announce my intention to seek the Republican nomination for president of the United States.

We wanted to do it here.

My reasons for running for say.

I love this country. America has been so good to our family. My grandfather immigrated from Ireland. He went through Ellis Island. I was named after him.

My dad was a combat veteran. My mom and dad built everything that matters. A family, a business and a good name.

I was raised to believe you get back. I had the opportunity to do that. We met in the years that I was in the Congress of the United States when I was a leader among House conservatives.

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