Kentucky state law prohibits a candidate's name from appearing on a ballot twice; an obvious obstacle for Senator Rand Paul who wishes to run for president and reelection as a senator.
Rand son of Ron will be permitted to do so, however, because the Republican party of Kentucky voted to change the rules and hold a party caucus rather than a straight primary vote.
The Kentucky Republican Party Central Committee approved the March 5 caucus by a 111-36 vote, with the caveat that Paul must put up half of the nearly $500,000 he promised to pay for it by Sept. 18. [...]
The party’s move drew immediate ire from Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic secretary of State, who said in a statement: “It is unfortunate that today a few insiders were able to disenfranchise over 1.2 million Republican voters.”
By holding a presidential caucus rather than a presidential primary, Rand's name will only appear on one ballot -- the ballot for state senator.
At first glance this seems like an awful waste of money. Rand will pay a hefty sum of money to continue fighting a losing campaign for the presidency.
This may make sense if Rand had a chance of becoming the Republican nominee, but he doesn't. Rand Paul will never be the nominee and will never be president. Rand himself clearly does not believe he will be the nominee, otherwise he wouldn't be concerned about his Senate seat.
I suppose we can expect to see Rand continue his campaign for the presidency until at least March at which time he will drop out and fully commit to running for reelection as a senator.