U.S. Senator Rand Paul is asking Kentucky Republican leaders to change the party’s state primary to an early caucus. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports this would enable Paul to run for both the Republican nomination for president and a second term in the Senate next year.
University of Kentucky Political Science Department chair Ernest Yanarella says it’s possible the state GOP could be moved to oblige Paul.
“I believe, however, that it would meet with some establishment resistance and I think there would be a great hue and cry from some sectors of the public,” Yanarella said.
The Herald-Leader reports Paul sent a letter to hundreds of state party leaders ahead of an executive meeting March 7 in Bowling Green where the matter will be decided.
A candidate cannot be on the ballot twice in Kentucky's elections. Since he began entertaining the notion of a 2016 presidential run, there has been much discussion of which avenues Paul could explore in order to run both campaigns.
Paul formally announced his Senate re-election bid in December.
Kentucky GOP chairman Steve Robertson could not be reached for comment Thursday.
