The Donald Trump vice-presidential guessing game is over, according to widespread reports, and the winner is Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

Roll Call first broke the story citing an anonymous source, The Indianapolis Star then reported that Pence has dropped his re-election campaign in order to be on the state’s ballot as Vice President, The New York Times joined those confirming Pence was the likely pick, and now ABC News is reporting the governor has flown to New York City for what was expected to be Friday’s official announcement.

A radio host before becoming a politician, Pence is a former Congressman who served six terms in the House of Representatives. Known for his conservative principles, he opposed several of President George W. Bush’s key initiatives, including No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and the Troubled Asset Relief Program bank bailout. He eventually rose to become the fourth-ranking Republican in the House before running for governor in 2012.

As governor, Pence has faced criticisms from both sides of the political aisle. The left has targeted him for signing multiple pro-life bills, including one that makes choosing abortion because of a baby’s sex or race illegal. He signed a Religious Freedom Restoration Act law in Spring 2015 that drew a tremendous backlash from LGBT activists and corporations, leading him to sign a modified version shortly thereafter.

The latter move left conservatives infuriated with a candidate many wanted to run for president in 2008 and 2012. Pence has also been criticized for expanding Medicaid in a compromise with the Obama administration that implemented conservative priorities like health savings accounts. He pulled Indiana out of Common Core, but instituted education policies that have garnered significant conservative criticism.

On budgets and taxes, Pence was one of four governors who received an “A” from the Cato Institute in its 2014 rankings.

“Mike Pence of Indiana has been a champion tax cutter, and he has held the line on spending. He signed into law a 2013 tax package that cut the individual income tax rate from 3.4 to 3.23 percent and repealed the state’s inheritance tax,” according to Cato’s report. “In 2014 he approved cuts to the corporate income tax rate and to business property taxes, both of which will be phased in over time.”

Pence’s conservative pedigree was rarely challenged during his 12 years in the House, where he took the Republican Study Committee from a little-noticed group of House conservatives to being a powerhouse organization that regularly pushed the GOP to the right on policy. In 2006, he tried to broker a deal between Bush and conservatives on immigration, an effort that was praised by many in Republican circles, but decried by hard-liners like former Rep. Tom Tancredo.

A Trump/Pence ticket will balance the hard-charging charisma of Trump with the balanced, policy-centric Pence. It will also settle many conservative concerns about Trump’s seriousness about issues like abortion, and likely add significant fundraising power to the Trump campaign.

Reactions to the likely pick included praise from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser also expressed admiration for Pence as Vice President, saying in a statement, “Mr. Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence is an affirmation of the pro-life commitments he’s made and will rally the pro-life grassroots.” Huffington Post reports that other Republicans are offering similar words of affirmation.

Erick Erickson, however, was less pleased. The former Red State Editor-in-Chief criticized Pence on Twitter for retreating on religious liberty, and offered other critical commentary in blog posts.

From the left, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director Ilya Sheyman said that picking Pence would show that Trump is “doubling down on his divisive and hate-filled approach to politics.” Sheyman specifically highlighted Pence’s socially conservative principles, and concerns Pence had about Syrian refugees settling in Indiana.

One word of warning: Although all signs to Pence, multiple people on the Trump campaign have denied that a final pick has been made, and The New York Times cautions “the party’s mercurial presidential candidate may still backtrack on his apparent choice.” (For more from the author of “Reports: Indiana Governor Pence Is Trump’s VP Pick” please click HERE)

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Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump went to Capitol Hill several days ago to try and unify his party in hopes of beating Hillary Clinton. With the backing of Senate Republicans Trump stands a better chance at garnering more votes during the general election.

However, things got a little tense when Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake confronted Trump on his rhetoric.

“You’ve been very critical of me,” Trump said in his opening statements to Flake.

“Yes, I’m the other senator from Arizona — the one who didn’t get captured — and I want to talk to you about statements like that,” Flake responded. He was, of course, referring to the incident in which Trump made inflammatory comments about Sen. John McCain for not being a war hero.

Flake mostly wanted him to change his tune when it came to immigration and Latino people — specifically to stop attacking Mexicans. The Republican senator did acknowledge, though, that he was not part of the “Never Trump” movement, and would support Trump under the right circumstances.

Various media outlets reported that the meeting was a disaster, making it appear Trump might be dividing instead of unifying. But Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, dispelled that rumor via a statement.

“Today’s meeting was positive and productive and these characterizations, attributed to unnamed sources, are wholly inaccurate,” Manafort said. “The conversation was very positive and substantive. The Members were in total agreement with Mr. Trump of the need to unite the Party and work together to win the Presidency and keep a Republican Congress. Mr. Trump was pleased with the discussion and looks forward to working together with the Republican Party leadership towards defeating Hillary Clinton in November.”

A number of other Republicans also expressed concern about Trump’s rhetoric during the meeting. But House Speaker Paul Ryan was hopeful about the outcome.

“We clearly have a presumptive nominee who wants to work with us on moving this agenda forward,” he said. (For more from the author of “Tension Occurs During Trump’s Meeting With Senate Republicans” please click HERE)

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Foster Friess, a billionaire who donates generously to the Republican Party, said in a letter to supporters that Donald Trump deserves the backing of the evangelical community because God, throughout biblical history, has always tapped the imperfect to work his perfect will.

“[A]ll throughout history,” he wrote, “God has harnessed imperfect people to fulfill his perfect will. King David sent Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, off to the front lines in hopes he would be killed so David could play cozy with the guy’s wife.”

He went on, saying he thought even the most “principled evangelical Christian woman” ought to support Trump, even if she had concerns about his morals and past indiscretions, the Washington Examiner reported. And, he reminded, “You and I are changing and so is Donald Trump,” the newspaper reported. (Read more from “GOP Billionaire: Trump Worthy of Christian Support” please click HERE)

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