On Monday night, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will host a fundraising event in Miramar Beach in the Florida Panhandle as he looks to play in the backyard of potential 2016 Republican presidential primary rivals former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Saint Petersblog broke the news over the weekend that Paul would be holding the event as he draws closer to launching a presidential bid.
Paul has been in single digits in most recent polls looking at the Florida Republican presidential primary, with Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling releasing a survey last week showing him pulling 4 percent. During his two bids for the Republican presidential nomination, in the 2008 and 2012 primaries former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Pauls father, pulled in single digits.
The Kentucky senator has been more active in Florida than his father was. Last March,Paul endorsed U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., for a second term. At the campaign kickoff, Yohos team released a video from Paul with the senator endorsing the Florida congressman. With Paul thinking about running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Yoho hyped him up as the presidential front-runner.
I am extremely proud to kick off our 2014 campaign for Congress with the endorsement of presidential front-runner Sen. Rand Paul, Yoho said last year. His conservative leadership and tenacity in getting the conservative message out is admirable. We are going to continue to fight for the conservative principles that we were sent to Washington to uphold. I am honored and humbled to have his support and look forward to working with Sen. Paul on getting our country back.
Paul also waded into two special congressional elections last year, backing Republicans David Jolly and Curt Clawson.
At the start of March 2014, American Crossroads, a super-PAC with ties to prominent Republican strategist Karl Rove, unleashed Paul in support of Jolly, even as there were concerns about GOP faithful backing Libertarian Lucas Overby in the contest. While Jolly went on to beat Democrat former state CFO Alex Sink, Overby pulled 5 percent in the special election.
I'm calling to urge you to vote on Tuesday for David Jolly in the race for Congress, Paul said in a robocall that went out to tens of thousands of voters across Pinellas County. David believes in smaller government. He thinks it's the way to protect our liberty, and I agree. That's why I'm supporting him. He will go to Congress to ensure you, not the government, are making decisions for you and your family. Please remember to vote on Tuesday for David Jolly.
Earlier this year, Pauls efforts in Florida led to an odd result as Clawson voted for him to be the speaker of the U.S. House instead of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Today marked the time for a more conservative, more streamlined and less deal-making way of doing business on Capitol Hill, Clawson said in early January when he voted for Paul over Boehner. In business we call this a new set of eyes. In politics they call us the outsiders. That is why I supported my fellow outsider, Sen. Rand Paul, as an alternative choice to be the speaker of the House. Like much of the new blood elected to Congress in recent years, Rand Paul and I share the view that Washington is too big and that protecting our Constitution is paramount. How ironic that viewpoint is now considered outsider, by some.
Last year, Clawson signed on board with Pauls One Percent Spending Reduction Act,popularly dubbed the Penny Plan, which would reduce the cost of the federal government by 1 percent each year until the budget is balanced. Originally introduced by then-U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., Paul announced in the summer of 2011 that he was backing the measure. Paul backed Mack in the race against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., back in 2012.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
