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Pence, Greitens to hold rallies in Springfield, St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will look to bolster the candidacy of Missouri’s Republican gubernatorial candidate at two endorsement events Monday.

Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens will appear with presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate in Springfield and St. Louis. The vice presidential hopeful has traveled across the country to bolster the Republican ticket and gather votes, though he has mostly stuck to swing states so far. Recent polling from the last month gives Trump a slim lead in Missouri over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Pence and Greitens met briefly last month at the Republican Governor’s Association in Aspen, Colorado.

Pence, a social conservative, has served in government since 2001, first as a congressman, and then as Indiana’s governor. In his tenure as governor, Pence has defended a right-to-work law passed under the previous Republican governor Mitch Daniels, increased funding to voucher programs and charter schools, defunded Planned Parenthood and expanded Medicaid in accordance with the Affordable Care Act.

At times, Pence has garnered significant national criticism, most notably for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2015. The law was written and passed as a response to the Obergefell decision, and many on the left feared the bill would allow discrimination against the LGBT community. Some business leaders announced plans to withdraw operations from the state, and Indianapolis lost as much as $60 million in convention business because of the law.

Greitens made headlines in April when he announced his opposition to SJR 39, Missouri’s version of a religious freedom bill. Despite Greitens’ opposition, SJR 39 sponsor Sen. Bob Onder emailed over the Labor Day weekend inviting supporters to attend the Pence/Greitens events.

Most recently, Pence has served as something of an ambassador between Trump – a political outsider, and the core Republican base. Greitens has also embraced his role of outsider and an endorsement from Pence could help garner support from social conservatives in Missouri, many of whom have shown disappointment in Greitens’ nomination.

Roy Temple, Chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, released a statement calling the Trump-Pence ticket “hateful” and hoping voters will reject the pair.

“The people of the Show-Me State have and will continue to reject the Trump-Pence ticket’s divisive and hateful campaign,” said Temple. “Missourians do not want an economic agenda that would cost our state and country millions of jobs. They’ve seen enough to know that Donald Trump’s pattern of dangerous rhetoric and irresponsible policies make him unfit to be President of the United States.”