Most GOP leaders happy with Trump's Pence pick

Most Republicans had a positive reaction to the news that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to be his running mate.

The choice of Pence was hinted at earlier Thursday after the Indianapolis Star reported that Pence would not run for a second term. National news outlets later reported that Trump had offered and Pence had accepted the number two spot on the Republican ticket.

Trump tweeted earlier in the day that he would hold a news conference in Manhattan today to publicly name his choice to be his running mate. However, that conference was postponed until Monday, after at least 84 people were killed during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France. Then Trump filed a Twitter message this morning saying he would announce his choice of Pence Saturday morning.

Most local Republicans said that Pence, 57, a first-term governor and former five-term congressman, is a wise choice.

Andrew Brekke, chair of the Hill County Republican Party, said   picking Pence, who has a strong conservative record from his time in Congress and as governor, can help bring together a party that has been divided over its presumptive nominee.

“So he kind of checks some boxes that he needed to check to try to get some more people on board on the national level,” Brekke said.

“I think he is a good choice,” said state Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, who is up for re-election in November.

State Sen. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, who is not up for re-election this year, said she thought Pence has been “a great governor” and a good choice, but that her concentration was more on state and local races on the ballot in Montana this election cycle.

“He’s going to be good, he’s conservative and I like that,” said Brad Lotton, finance chair for the Hill County party who will be one of 27 delegates at the national convention in Cleveland next week.

But the praise for Trump’s pick was not unanimous.

Sarah McKinney Griffith, who is active on the local Republican scene, thinks Trump should have eschewed the conventional wisdom and gone with a candidate whose rhetoric and positions on immigration were similar to his own.  

She said she thinks tapping Pence seemed like a strategic move, adding she thinks is a mistake.

“He has made a lot of good moves on just his gut instinct, and he should probably keep doing that,” Griffith said.