Mike Pence and Donald Trump have two very different paths through politics. | AP Photo 7 ways Mike Pence is nothing like Donald Trump The Indiana governor, rumored to be Trump's VP pick, has cut a starkly different path to the White House.

Mike Pence may be the leading contender to be Donald Trump’s running mate, but the governor of Indiana has run a different route to the White House than the Manhattan media mogul.

From matters ranging from his personal biography to some policy decisions that would appear to put him directly at odds with the presumptive Republican nominee, Pence has cut a decidedly different profile.


And while Pence and Trump both jump-started their political careers through media (Pence on radio, and Trump on television), the Midwestern-born and bred governor could have some uncomfortable conflicts with the brash former star of “The Apprentice.”

Here are 7 ways Pence, the potential 48th vice president in U.S. history, is different from the man he hopes to join in the Oval Office:

1. He voted to invade Iraq.

As a member of Congress in 2002, Pence voted in favor of the joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq. Trump, on the other hand, has claimed to have opposed the invasion of Iraq from the outset.

Trump did, however, suggest to radio host Howard Stern in September 2002 that he was in favor of military action.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Trump said in a clip unearthed by BuzzFeed News earlier this year. “I wish the first time it was done correctly.”

2. He is an evangelical Christian.

Pence was raised in a Roman Catholic family but met his future wife, Karen, at an evangelical church and became a born-again Christian himself.

Trump, on the other hand, was raised Presbyterian and has struggled at times during the campaign to fully articulate his religious views. Claiming that he has never sought forgiveness from God, Trump also made reference to the taking of Communion.

"When I drink my little wine — which is about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed,” he said at the Family Leadership Summit in July 2015.

3. He caved to critics last year amid political controversy.

Before becoming Trump’s running mate, Pence’s highest-profile stint in the national spotlight came in the spring of 2015 after he signed a “religious freedom” law. Pence initially defended the law amid stinging corporate backlash, insisting in an appearance on ABC that it would not be changed and refusing to answer any questions about whether it would discriminate against LGBT citizens.

Pence then wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he stated, "If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn't eat there anymore. As governor of Indiana, if I were presented a bill that legalized discrimination against any person or group, I would veto it."

Pence then signed legislation revising the law.

Trump, on the other hand, is not one to backpedal. “I fully think apologizing’s a great thing, but you have to be wrong,” he told Jimmy Fallon last September.

4. He’s only had one wife.

Trump’s current wife, Melania, is his third, but Pence has been married only once to Karen Pence since 1985.

Trump married his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková, in 1977, followed by a divorce 15 years later. He then married Marla Maples in 1993, which ended in divorce six years later. Trump has been married to Melania Knauss since 2005.

5. He swore off negative campaigning.

While Trump has told The Wall Street Journal that he is looking for a vice presidential nominee who is a “fighter skilled in hand-to-hand combat,” Pence has previously suggested he is not a big political pugilist.

“Negative campaigning is wrong,” Pence wrote in a 1991 piece published in the Indiana Policy Review. “That is not to say that a negative campaign is an ineffective option in a tough political race. Pollsters will attest — with great conviction — that it is the negatives that move voters. The mantra of a modern political campaign is ‘drive up the negatives.’”

6. He’s a Midwesterner through and through.

Born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1959, Pence grew up in the same city, got his bachelor’s degree in history from Hanover College in Indiana and his J.D. from Indiana University’s law school.

Trump is as much a New Yorker as Pence is a Hoosier, although he did detour into Pennsylvania to get his bachelor’s degree in economics from the prestigious Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.

7. He opposes banning Muslims from the U.S.

Unlike Trump, who last December in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks called on a temporary ban of Muslim immigration to the country, Pence did not think such a policy would be prudent.

"Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional," Pence tweeted the day after Trump issued the proposal.

Pence stood by his opposition earlier this week, telling reporters that he has "taken issue with our candidates from time to time, but I’m supporting Donald Trump for president of the United States of America."

"I served in Congress for 12 years, I’ve been a governor for three-and-a-half years," Pence said. "I haven’t agreed with every one of my Republican colleagues or Democratic colleagues on every issue, but I’m supporting Donald Trump because we need change in this country, and I believe he represents the kind of strong leadership at home and abroad that will, to borrow a phrase, make America great again.”