Not many people can say they’ve had face time with the vice president of the United States.
Brown County High School junior Tanner Bowman can.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Not only that, Bowman also gave the invocation before the rally for Indiana Republican United States Senate candidate Mike Braun on Oct. 13, which Pence attended.
He woke up at 5 a.m. to be the first in line. He had no idea he would be speaking that day until he got a tap on the shoulder while standing at the fence, looking at the stage where Pence would be speaking in support of Braun.
An official with the state Republican Party asked him to give the invocation. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to do this?’” Bowman said.
But with the help of a speech writer, Bowman was able to get the invocation written and sent to his phone for safekeeping so he wouldn’t “goof up anything.”
Indiana GOP chairman Kyle Hupfer greeted the rally crowd and gave his remarks, then introduced Bowman.
“Being up on stage at that podium with the vice presidential seal and having two Secret Service in front of me and two on the side, being up there on that stage with 15 cameras in the back and that crowd, it was unbelievable,” he said. “It was an experience I will never forget. I am so grateful I had the opportunity.”
That wasn’t Bowman’s first time socializing with high-ranking Republicans. During the Lincoln Day Dinner in Brown County, Bowman was tasked with looking after Henry Holcomb, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s dog.
Bowman also was able to talk with other state Republican officials at the Braun event, including Treasurer Kelly Mitchell, Secretary of State Connie Lawson, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Braun.
Bowman was seated next to Braun’s wife. The two were then asked to move over one seat, and a Secret Service agent placed a piece of paper on the seat next to him, reserving it for Second Lady Karen Pence.
“After Mike and Karen had waved to the crowd, she came back and stood next to me for the entirety of Mike Pence’s speech,” Bowman said.
Bowman managed to get a selfie with the Pences and spoke with them about his hometown.
“I asked them when they were coming back to see us in Brown County. They said hopefully very soon,” he said.
The night before the rally, Bowman attended the state Republican Party’s fall dinner in Indianapolis. He even managed to “sneak” into a VIP area where he met Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
About 1,500 people were in the crowd when McDaniel asked him to stand up. “She said to the crowd, in front of everyone important in the state, ‘Tanner snuck into the VIP room tonight. I have to say, even though he did that, I am very impressed with him. Keep an eye on him. I am going to work his campaign when he runs for governor in 2028,’” he said.
Bowman isn’t ruling that out.
“I hope to serve the people of Indiana and the people of the United States some day in some capacity — whether that be as a politician, whether that be as a serviceman,” he said.
“People tell me that I’m going to run for governor, so I figured if they want me to, if it’s the people’s wish someday, then I will.”
