Donald Trump won the election, which means Governor Mike Pence is the vice-president elect. So how did a man from a town smaller than the size of Lafayette end up our soon-to-be second-in-command?

Governor Pence’s public service career started in 2000 when he became a congressman, where he represented Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District for 12 years. From 2009-2011, Pence was the House Republican Conference Chairman, in which he discussed the party’s message to his fellow members. Pence’s sixth term in congress was cut short when he ran for governor in 2012. In 2013, he was inaugurated as Indiana’s 50th governor.

Since his time in office, Governor Pence has achieved the largest state tax cut in our state’s history, signed into law the first state funding for pre-K education in Indiana, invested more than $800 million in new money for roads and bridges, and balanced the state budget. His budget still reserves and generates surplus money for the state. We see the effects of new bridges and roads in our own county with the new Hoosier Heartland and various historical bridges.

Before Governor Pence became a public icon, he grew up in Columbus, Indiana. He graduated from Columbus North High School in 1977 and went on to graduate from Hanover College in 1981. Pence earned his J.D. (Juris Doctor: a law degree) from Indiana University School of Law in 1986. Governor Pence and First Lady Karen Pence got married in 1985. They have three adult children, Michael, Charlotte and Audrey. The governor and first lady currently live in the Governor’s residence. Once in Washington D.C., they will live in the Number One Observatory Circle, which is the official residence of the Vice President of the United States.