For Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, one of the most important votes of the 2016 presidential cycle takes place Saturday, when local GOP officials meet to decide if he can seek the White House and run for reelection to his Senate seat simultaneously.
Paul needs the state GOP central committee to scrap the traditional presidential primary in favor of a caucus system, which would allow him to sidestep a state law banning a candidate from appearing on the same ballot twice. The plan received unanimous preliminary approval, but Paul has yet to give the state party the money he promised to pay for the one-time caucus. Without the money in hand, Kentucky Republicans are hesitant to commit to the $500,000 enterprise.
There’s nothing to worry about, according to Paul’s team. “We are confident and expect the Kentucky Republican Party to approve the plan,” campaign spokesman Sergio Gor tells National Review.
Paul hasn’t instilled that confidence in the 334-member committee. He sent a letter claiming to have transferred a $250,000 down payment to the Republican Party of Kentucky, but didn’t actually send the money. “I’m disappointed that they sent a letter saying the money had been transferred when it hadn’t,” Scott Lasley, a county GOP chair who helped plan the presidential caucuses, told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
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Paul’s campaign claimed that the money has been earmarked for the caucuses when local reporters asked about it. Neither side wants to move first, as Paul can’t get the money back if he transfers it to the Republican Party of Kentucky and then loses the vote, while the RPK fears committing to the caucuses given that Paul hasn’t come through with the funding. “The one thing for sure: the money will have to be in the bank,” RPK budget and finance committee member Jim Skaggs told Bloomberg Politics. ”It cannot be a promise.’’ It’s an especially nerve-wracking move for local officials given that they’ll need all the money they can raise to recapture the governor’s office and control of the state house.
#related#Paul’s team refuses to preview his closing argument — GOP state committee members would like him to bring a check to the event — but his personal appearance could be enough to close the deal, whether he brings the money or not, because some committee members could hesitate to challenge him directly.
Paul might also benefit from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s endorsement of the plan earlier this year, but it won’t put the vote beyond doubt. “McConnell has been very accommodating and tried to bend over backwards but the condition was that Rand was going to pay for the thing and if they don’t know if Rand is going to pay for the thing, he may not get the support,” says one Republican source with close ties to the Kentucky GOP. “It’s just sort of testing the limits of people’s patience on it and, I think, putting the outcome of the Saturday vote in doubt.”
— Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.