Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul

LOUISVILLE — Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul filed to run for both president and for re-election to the Senate in Kentucky on Monday, saying supporters want his voice to remain an influence on the national stage.

The first-term U.S. Senator has seen his presidential stock slip nationally as the Republican base appears to be focusing more on national security in the wake of terrorist bombings in Paris and the Middle East while Donald Trump has tapped into Paul’s support among anti-status quo voters.

Asked if filing for both offices reflected doubt about his viability as a presidential candidate, Paul responded: “I think what it reflects is that people see my voice as a unique voice in the U.S. Senate and they want my voice still to be heard nationally.”

He noted that current Speaker of the U.S. House, Republican Paul Ryan, ran for vice president and for re-election to the House in 2012.

Paul was scheduled to put down a $15,000 filing fee to enter the Republican Party of Kentucky presidential caucus in March, set up by the party to help Paul contend with a Kentucky law which forbids a candidate’s name from appearing on the same ballot for two separate offices. Paul also put up $250,000 toward the costs of the caucus as an incentive for party leaders to go along with his request to conduct a caucus instead of a primary.

Should Paul somehow win his party’s presidential nomination, he’d face the same barrier in the general election, but with RPK’s move to replace its primary with a caucus that’s not a problem prior to nomination — a long shot for Paul if polls are close to accurate.

But 4th District U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie, who introduced Paul at a press conference in the West End of Louisville, said polls aren’t an accurate barometer of Paul’s support, pointing to Republican Matt Bevin’s surprisingly easy gubernatorial win in Kentucky when polls showed him trailing his Democratic opponent.

Paul spoke for just over four minutes, beginning with a simple statement to about 25 supporters and assembled reporters: “It is my pleasure to announce my candidacy for president of the United States and for re-election to the Senate.”

Signing his papers were Bevin and Lt. Gov.-elect Jenean Hampton who hails from Paul’s hometown of Bowling Green and is the first African American elected to statewide office in Kentucky. The press conference took place in the Jefferson County Republican Party’s West End office in the William Worley Center, located in the predominantly African American West End.

Paul began by saying his party is the “party of civil rights, but now we also want to be the party of opportunity.”

The tea party, libertarian leaning Paul has worked hard to expand the reach and appeal of his candidacy and the Republican Party to minority groups, especially African Americans. He’s also supported restoring voting rights for non-violent offenders who have completed their sentences and expungement of most low-level felonies, both problems which disproportionately affect minorities.

Paul said he’s sponsoring legislation to create “economic opportunity zones” in depressed areas like Louisville’s West End and in Eastern Kentucky’s coal fields, saying he wants “to leave over $1 billion in Kentucky that we never send to Washington. This is how we alleviate poverty.”

But he returned to the theme he has campaigned on since he first entered the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in 2010, saying he’s running for president for three reasons: “the debt, the debt and the debt.” He said the federal government borrows over $1 million a minute and the responsibility lies with both Republican and Democratic parties.

Recognizing the public’s attention on national security in the age of international terrorism, Paul said the nation’s first priority should always be national defense.

“But that doesn’t mean a blank check. We need to put it in perspective,” Paul said, especially when the U.S. spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined.

“Does incurring more debt make us stronger as a country militarily, to have so much debt?” Paul asked in response to a reporter’s question about the public focus on terrorism.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.