Former Vice President Mike Pence to keynote Indianapolis event in August

Former Vice President and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is one of many Republican contenders for the 2024 presidential primary, will give a keynote address at a meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Indianapolis next month.

Pence will address a Republican breakfast session on Aug. 16 at the Indiana Convention Center, as part of the group's Legislative Summit. The conference is a bipartisan organization that provides research and technical assistance for policymakers and staff at the state level.

The organization says Pence is the only major presidential candidate who will appear at its summit.

Pence is one of a dozen candidates vying for the Republican nomination, including his former boss, former President Donald Trump. Pence's last public appearance in Indianapolis was at the NRA's national convention in April, where Trump also spoke.

More: 'A tough row to hoe': Mike Pence faces uphill battle for GOP nomination

Having announced his campaign the first week of June, Pence is a relative late-comer to the race, and it's yet unclear whether he'll reach the fundraising threshold to qualify for the first Republican presidential debate in August.

Pence is leaning hard on a conservative agenda that both touches on his hard-line stances on social issues and wraps in economic issues and border security. He's spent a lot of time courting Iowa voters, whose Christian evangelical base he hopes will show up for him.

Contact the reporter at kdwyer@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2024 presidential hopeful Mike Pence to keynote Indianapolis event