In 2016, Rand Paul must choose between Senate or White House

A little known fact in Kentucky is that state law dictates a candidate cannot appear more than once on a ballot. When applied to Rand Paul, this means he cannot appear on the Kentucky ballot running for Senator and President of the United States simultaneously. Paul had been lobbying for a change in the law, however, that effort was blunted by state democrats.

Report from the Washington Examiner:

Sen. Rand Paul may have to choose between keeping his seat in the U.S. Senate and gambling on the White House in 2016. As of now, the Kentucky Republican cannot have it both ways.

Kentucky law states that “no candidate’s name shall appear on any voting machine or absentee ballot more than once,” except in special cases — none of which apply to Paul.

Further complicating matters is that the state’s deadline for filing to run for U.S. Senate comes just before the first 2016 presidential primary is expected to take place. If that schedule holds, Paul wouldn’t have the option of seeing how he does in the early primaries before deciding on a Senate re-election bid.

True, Kentucky’s law means Paul is theoretically eligible to run for president in other states, but he cannot appear as a senator and presidential candidate on the state’s ballot. And although Paul has claimed in the past that he intends to run for re-election to the Senate, recent behavior clearly indicates that he is interested in the White House.

Pretty interesting set of circumstances. Paul’s desire to change the law alludes to his inevitable presidential campaign but will he be certain enough to forgo a backup position in the US Senate? I’m thinking that with all the time Paul’s put into setting up a 2016 platform of sorts, he’ll take the chance.