INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Indiana Governor Mike Pence took a defiant tone in launching his 2016 re-election campaign, saying he's ready to take on opponents seeking to use the uproar over the state's religious objections law against him.
Pence told the crowd at a GOP fundraising dinner Thursday night that he doesn't tolerate discrimination against anyone but freedom of conscience and religion must be protected.
The law Pence signed attracted a national outcry this spring as critics called it anti-gay and called for boycotts of Indiana.
Pence says he bears some responsibility for the uproar, but that it's been spurred by liberal special interests.
State Democratic Chairman John Zody says many people believe the religious objections law caused the state lasting harm.
About 50 protesters waving signs with “Fire Mike Pence'' and similar sayings lined a sidewalk outside the Indianapolis banquet hall where Pence was formally announcing his campaign for a second term as governor.
The protesters shouted chants Thursday evening such as “No hate in our state'' in reference to the religious objections law signed by Pence in March that critics denounced as anti-gay. Some 800 people were attending the state Republican Party fundraising dinner at the hall on the city's south side.
Retired teacher Pam Hume-Engle of Indianapolis was among those at the protest organized by the state Democratic Party. She says she believes Pence has an anti-civil rights agenda and that his policies are draining money from public schools.
