What a Kentucky bill could mean for Sen. Rand Paul
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WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will be up for reelection in 2028, the same year as the next presidential election.
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Paul didn’t rule out the possibility of a White House bid.
What You Need To Know
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will be up for reelection in 2028, the same year as the next presidential election
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Paul didn’t rule out the possibility of a White House bid
Under a new bill that passed the Kentucky House of Representatives this month, Paul would not have to forfeit his U.S. Senate seat to run for president
The bill has moved to the Kentucky State Senate for consideration
“We’re thinking about it, and I would say 50/50,” he said. “We’ll make a decision after the election, but I’m not going to do it just to do it. It would be one, because we need to have a free market wing. We need to have a free trade wing of the party who’s not eager for war and tries to at least explore diplomacy as an option to war.”
Under a new bill that passed the Kentucky House of Representatives this month, Paul would not have to forfeit his Senate seat to run for president.
House Bill 534 from state Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, would allow someone’s name to appear on a ballot more than once if the person is a “candidate for two (2) different federal offices on the same ballot, if one (1) of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College and the person currently holds an elected federal office.”
In a committee meeting on March 5, Johnson did not name a specific candidate, but referred to “an elected official at the federal level who has also garnered national attention for the possibility of running for the most important office in our country.”
“I thought the best, maybe splitting the baby a little bit, the best option was to allow them to be able to do both, honor the desires of the voters that have already elected him, while at the same time giving him the opportunity to run for the most important office we have in our country,” Johnson said. “It’s not just one person that this applies to. It’s for any elected official at the federal level if they so desire to run for president. We want to be able to give them that opportunity without penalizing them for the position they’re already in.”
State Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, said he does not think people should be able to run for multiple federal offices at the same time.
He attempted to strike the language allowing that from the bill, but was not successful.
The bill has moved to the Kentucky State Senate for consideration.
