Rand Paul Clears First Kentucky Hurdle in Bid for White House

State senate says he can run for president and US Senate at same time
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 19, 2014 1:40 PM CDT
Rand Paul Clears First Kentucky Hurdle in Bid for White House
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., at right, in a file photo.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

If Rand Paul does indeed run for president in 2016, he's got the vexing matter of a state law in Kentucky to contend with first. Paul has made clear that even if he runs for the White House, he intends to run for reelection to his US Senate seat, too, but Kentucky currently forbids such simultaneous campaigns. Yesterday, however, the Kentucky Senate voted to change the law, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. Now comes the hard part: getting it through the Democrat-led state House.

The current House speaker, Greg Stumbo, says the legislation doesn't have a prayer and is fond of declaring, "A man who can’t decide which office he wants to run for ain’t fit to hold either office," notes a CNHI News Service story in the Richmond Register. So is Paul out of luck? Not quite. Republicans think they can win control of the state House in this year's elections and then pass the measure. Failing that, Paul might go to court. (More Rand Paul stories.)

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