Representative Greg Pence

Gregory Joseph Pence (born November 14, 1956) is an American businessman, former United States Marine Corps officer, and Republican politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana’s 6th congressional district from January 3, 2019, to January 3, 2025. The district encompasses much of east-central Indiana, including his hometown of Columbus, as well as Greenfield, Richmond, Shelbyville, and the southern third of Indianapolis. He is the older brother of former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who represented the same district from 2001 to 2013. Pence served three terms in the House of Representatives, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history. In January 2024, he announced that he would not be running for re-election to the 119th United States Congress.

Pence was born in Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana, on November 14, 1956, the oldest of six children of Ann Jane “Nancy” (née Cawley) and Edward Joseph Pence Jr. His father operated a group of gas stations, a family business that would later shape Pence’s own career in the private sector. He was raised in the Catholic faith, an upbringing that remained central to his personal life. According to his mother, Pence and his three brothers participated in Republican politics from a young age, riding wagons in a 1964 campaign parade for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, an early indication of the family’s long-standing involvement in Republican Party politics.

Pence pursued higher education at Loyola University Chicago, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology and philosophy. Following his undergraduate studies, he received a commission in the United States Marine Corps in 1981. He served on active duty for five and a half years, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. During his service, his battalion was stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 and was shipped out shortly before the Beirut barracks bombings that year. While serving in the Marines, Pence continued his education and completed a Master of Business Administration degree at Loyola University Chicago in 1983. After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, he transitioned to a career in business.

In 1988, following the death of his father, Pence joined the family-related enterprise, Kiel Brothers Oil Company, which operated gas stations and convenience stores. He advanced through the company and served as its president from 1998 until 2004. That same year, after his departure, Kiel Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The closure of the company’s sites led to environmental cleanup obligations, and according to some reports, remediation of the defunct business locations cost the state of Indiana at least $21 million. In addition to his work at Kiel Brothers, Pence held positions with Marathon Oil and Unocal, further broadening his experience in the energy and petroleum sectors. In 1999, he was elected to the board of directors of Home Federal Bancorp and its subsidiary, Home Federal Savings Bank. Outside of the oil and financial industries, Pence and his wife, Denise, developed interests in retail and entrepreneurship, owning and operating two antique malls in southern Indiana.

Pence’s formal entry into electoral politics followed years of involvement in Republican campaigns and party activities. He served as finance chairman for U.S. Representative Luke Messer’s 2018 campaign for the U.S. Senate. When Messer vacated his House seat in Indiana’s 6th congressional district to pursue that Senate race, Pence announced his own candidacy for the open seat in October 2017. In the May 8, 2018, Republican primary, he won the nomination for the district that his brother Mike Pence had represented for 12 years. The contest became one of the most expensive House primaries in Indiana that cycle, with Greg Pence raising and spending about $1 million by mid-April, while his closest Republican challenger largely self-financed a comparable amount. In the November 2018 general election, Pence faced Democrat Jeannine Lake and won by a margin of more than 30 percent, securing his first term in Congress. He was reelected in 2020, again defeating Lake in a rematch on November 3, 2020, with 68.6 percent of the vote, and he subsequently won a third term, serving continuously until January 3, 2025.

During his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pence served on the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce. Within that committee, he was assigned to the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials; and the Subcommittee on Health. Through these assignments, he participated in oversight and legislative work related to national energy policy, environmental regulation, industrial and manufacturing issues, and public health. Representing a district with a mix of industrial, agricultural, and suburban communities, Pence took part in the broader democratic process of the House, advocating for the interests of his east-central Indiana constituents while aligning with the priorities of the Republican Conference.

Pence’s congressional service coincided with a turbulent period in national politics, including the contentious 2020 presidential election and its aftermath. On January 6, 2021, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol and despite rioters’ chants of “Hang Mike Pence” directed at his brother, then–Vice President Mike Pence, Greg Pence voted to object to the certification of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., siding with then-President Donald J. Trump’s effort to challenge the results. In May 2021, he voted against legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack, accusing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats of seeking to use the commission for what he characterized as the “political execution of Donald Trump.” The bill nonetheless passed the House. In August 2022, Pence publicly criticized President Biden’s decision to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for eligible borrowers. He was in turn criticized by some commentators and political opponents for perceived hypocrisy, as records showed that $79,441 in debt from his Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan had been forgiven.

Pence remained closely tied to Republican politics beyond his own campaigns. His wife, Denise, was an Indiana delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2016 and 2020, casting her votes for Donald Trump and Mike Pence to be the party’s nominees for president and vice president. She again served as a delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where she cast her vote for Trump and JD Vance as the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees. The Pence family attended Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, seated several rows behind the president. Greg and Denise Pence have four children and ten grandchildren. Their oldest daughter, Nicole, worked as a television anchor in Indianapolis, and their son John served as a senior adviser to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and married Giovanna Coia, a cousin of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway. Pence is a practicing Catholic and attends St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Columbus, Indiana. After announcing in January 2024 that he would not seek re-election, he concluded his third term in the House in January 2025 and returned to private life and business interests, including the family’s antique malls in southern Indiana.