Will Rand Paul get to run for president and Senate at the same time?
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will find out Saturday whether he succeeded in persuading his state's Republican Party to hold a presidential caucus before its regularly scheduled primary in 2016 - a move that would allow him to run for president and reelection to the Senate simultaneously.
Kentucky law prohibits a candidate's name from appearing twice on the same ballot, so Paul has been pushing the party to separate the presidential race from the rest of the state's primary elections by holding a caucus. On Saturday, the party's central committee will take a final vote on the matter.
Paul has argued that holding a presidential caucus would give Kentucky more clout in the GOP nominating process by making the state's voice heard earlier.
"It has been suggested by others for several cycles that Kentucky has no influence on the presidential process because of our late primary," Paul wrote in a letter to party members earlier this year. "By May 2016, the GOP will likely have decided its nominee, rendering our votes useless in deciding anything."
The Kentucky GOP's central committee, however, is concerned about the cost of holding a separate caucus. They're also not convinced Paul will emerge as a real contender for the GOP nomination, given his mediocre fundraising numbers and his flagging position in the polls.
In a conference call with the committee on Thursday night, Paul pegged his odds of winning the GOP nomination at "one in 10," according to the Lexington Herald Leader. In March, the paper noted, he was more optimistic, giving himself "one in five, one in six" odds.
Paul also sought to reassure the state GOP about the cost of a caucus, pledging to foot the bill in full - but he was asked why he hadn't yet transferred a promised deposit of $250,000 to party coffers.
Paul, the Herald Leader reports, "responded that there was no need to transfer the money unless Kentucky's Republicans don't trust their junior senator."
At one point, Paul also reportedly "raised some eyebrows" by suggesting a collection bag could be passed around during the caucuses to help offset the cost of the events.
Kentucky voters seem to be split on Paul's crusade. In a Bluegrass Poll released in May, only 23 percent said Paul should be able to run for president and reelection to the Senate at the same time. Nineteen percent said he should seek only the White House, 19 percent said he should concentrate on his Senate race. Thirty percent said he should leave public office altogether.
Florida law also bans candidates from appearing on the ballot for two different offices, so Marco Rubio, who would also have been up for reelection to the Senate in 2016, opted only to pursue a presidential run.