Rand Paul Taps House GOP’s Troublemakers to Boost 2016 Campaign

Rand Paul Taps House GOP’s Troublemakers to Boost 2016 Campaign

The libertarian has targeted like-minded representatives, including those in a key primary state.


BY TIM ALBERTA
April 5, 2015
The National Journal


Rand Paul is in the House.

While other presidential contenders have thus far been sluggish in soliciting help from Capitol Hill, Paul, the first-term senator from Kentucky, has already enlisted some of Congress's leading rabble-rousers to assist his White House run.

Paul will officially launch his campaign Tuesday in Louisville, before embarking on a four-day tour through the first four states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada—on the GOP nominating calendar. During the launch, or soon after, the senator is expected to announce endorsements from a host of House Republicans who will help his campaign in some capacity. Among them: Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Raul Labrador of Idaho, and Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

Both Sanford and Labrador, multiple sources said, will appear with Paul at rallies this week. Sanford will join the senator at Thursday's event in Charleston, his home district, at the USS Yorktown. Labrador, who last month denied rumors of his imminent endorsement of Paul, is scheduled to campaign with the senator at a to-be-determined time and place, according to sources with knowledge of Paul's rollout.

Two of these early endorsements—from Amash and Massie—will come as little surprise. They are the most outspoken libertarians in the House; Amash endorsed Ron Paul for president in 2012. Labrador and Sanford have compiled staunchly conservative voting records in recent years, but both are more closely associated with the tea party than with Paul's "Liberty" movement.

Yet all are united in their common status as thorn-in-the-establishment's-side Republicans: These four, among others, are the conservatives who have made life miserable for Speaker John Boehner and his House leadership team over the past several years. They have voted reliably against the leadership's wishes—and, in several cases, against Boehner himself as he sought election as speaker. Amash was kicked off the House Budget Committee for his rebellious antics; Labrador unsuccessfully challenged Kevin McCarthy for the position of House majority leader in last summer's special election. In this Congress, they formed the House Freedom Caucus to organize their intra-party opposition. (Jim Jordan, the group's chairman, who is neutral thus far in the 2016 GOP primary, said he expects "at least five or six" of his members to support Paul's campaign right off the bat.)

Support from this group of lawmakers reflects Paul's outsider, anti-establishment message—and illustrates the importance of enlisting well-connected supporters in critical early nominating states.

There's is speculation that Sanford won't be the only official from South Carolina—home of the third Republican nominating contest in 2016—to back Paul. According to GOP sources, Reps. Mick Mulvaney and Jeff Duncan, both favorites of the most conservative wing in Congress and in their home state, are seen as leaning toward endorsing Paul. (Both Mulvaney and Duncan denied that they've made up their minds, although Mulvaney said he shot a video for his "buddy" Paul that will be shown at Thursday's Charleston event.)

"They are very popular and could play a big role around the state," Mallory Factor, a top Paul organizer in South Carolina, said of Mulvaney and Duncan. "If those guys were to support him for president, it would contribute a lot to Senator Paul potentially winning South Carolina."

Paul's push for endorsements from South Carolina's federal officeholders underscores his focus on the state—territory in which, unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, he does not inherit a sprawling base of supporters from his father's 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Looking to build that base, Paul will headline a fundraising reception Wednesday evening at the Charleston home of Marcelo Hochman, a prominent local physician. The senator's wife, Kelley, will host a book-signing one week later at the Citadel, an event sponsored by longtime Republican organizer Tommy McQueeney. And Paul is expected to announce soon that Tom Davis, a popular conservative state senator, will serve as the state director for his 2016 campaign.

It's expected that several other House members will be aiding Paul's presidential effort, although they may not be immediately announced. More than a half-dozen House Republicans attended Paul's 2016 team meeting in Washington last November, and their presence clearly communicated their intention of supporting Paul in the GOP primary, according to sources in attendance. (Additionally, in a show of home-state solidarity, most of Kentucky's congressional delegation is expected to join Massie in supporting Paul.)

According to people familiar with Paul's planning, his congressional comrades will be counted on to help with state-level operations. Amash, for example, is expected to serve as the chairman of Paul's campaign in Michigan. And Paul's team has not shied away from making big asks of its congressional supporters, particularly when it comes to fundraising.

An internal memo circulated by the Rand Paul Victory Committee, and obtained by National Journal, contains "Members of Congress Action Items" that detail responsibilities for those lawmakers supporting Paul. Among them: "Personally call your 10 best donors and recruit them for Team Rand. … Provide a list of your political staff that is willing to help Team Rand. … Provide a list of your $500+ donors and send a letter to that group. … Provide a list of politically active physicians in your area."

Paul will lean heavily on his soon-to-be congressional surrogates, but he won't be looking for just anyone to help his campaign. The senator's allies say his recruiting pitch has been narrowly aimed at Congress's most conservative and tea-party-friendly lawmakers. This lack of broad outreach seems to be par for the course thus far in the 2016 presidential race. Overall, Republican lawmakers say overtures from the presidential campaigns to Capitol Hill have heretofore been slow—and sometimes nonexistent.

"They're all running against Washington," Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas said of the GOP presidential candidates. Smiling, he added: "They probably don't think we'd be much of an asset."

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