Rand Paul 2016: 8 Facts About Political Background of GOP Presidential Hopeful

Rand Paul, the son of a United States congressman and a Republican presidential hopeful for 2016, serves on several committees of the U.S. Senate in areas of foreign relations; health, education, labor, and pensions; homeland security and governmental affairs; and small business and entrepreneurship. Here are eight facts about the political experience of this 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

1. Rand Paul entered the political arena in 1993, when he founded Kentucky Taxpayers United, a now dissolved network of taxpayer groups across the country with the National Taxpayers Union as the parent organization.

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2. Paul first became interested in the taxpayer movement when he was a child growing up in a political family with his father, Ron Paul, a U.S. congressman.
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3. During an interview with “Eye On Texas” in the 1990s, Rand Paul said he formed Kentucky Taxpayers United with the idea to “keep our eye on the state legislature and produce a rating of the state legislature based on their votes on taxing and spending issues.”

4. In 2008, Paul drew national attention while campaigning for his father who ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

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5. In 2009, Paul started his senatorial campaign and made history in Kentucky when he reaped more than $430,000 in donations.

6. Rand later defeated Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s secretary of state, in the Republican primary by 23.4 percent, which led to Rand’s contest with the state’s attorney general, Democrat Jack Conway.

7. Rand ultimately earned nearly 50 percent more contributions than Conway, and won an 11 percent margin in the general election.

8. In 2011, Rand was sworn in as a U.S. senator, marking the first time a father and son served in Congress.

As a potential candidate for the 2016 presidential race, Paul has said he is still considering his Republican bid for the White House.

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