Rand Paul to Kentucky GOP: Hold a presidential caucus in 2016

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is asking his state's Republican Party to stage a presidential caucus in 2016 well ahead of their regularly scheduled primary elections in May - a move he says would increase the state's clout in the GOP nominating process while also aiding his own political ambitions.

"You, as a member of the Kentucky Republican Central Committee, will be the one to decide if you want to help me get an equal chance at the nomination," Paul wrote to members of the Republican Party of Kentucky in a letter this week, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Paul will lobby the party's 54-member executive committee to vote to approve a caucus during their March 7 meeting in Bowling Green.

In his letter, the senator suggested Kentucky's current primary, which comes relatively late in the process, effectively deprives Kentuckians of a meaningful voice in the nominating process.

"It has been suggested by others for several cycles that Kentucky has no influence on the presidential process because of our late primary," Paul wrote. "By May 2016, the GOP will likely have decided its nominee, rendering our votes useless in deciding anything."

Creating a separate caucus for the presidential nomination would also allow Paul to simultaneously run for president and reelection to his seat - something he would not be able to do under current Kentucky law, which prohibits a name from appearing on a primary ballot for more than one office.

Paul acknowledged that added benefit in his letter. "As most of you know, moving up Kentucky's presidential primary election would also allow me to make a run for the nomination and seek re-election," he wrote. "I believe I can keep helping the people of Kentucky as senator, but I think there is no doubt I could help them even more as president."

Steve Robertson, the chairman of the Kentucky GOP, said the party will make "a policy-based decision, not a personality-based decision" about the 2016 primary.

"Our members will want answers to questions," he told the Herald-Leader.

Paul has been seeking a way around the Kentucky law for over a year. He's pushed Kentucky state lawmakers to pass a bill rescinding the ban on a name appearing twice on the primary ballot, and some of his boosters have even suggested that ban could be unconstitutional.

Kentucky voters so far seem to take a dim view of Paul's crusade. In a Bluegrass Poll last September, two thirds of respondents -- including a majority of Republicans -- opposed changing the law to allow Paul to run for president and seek reelection to the Senate at the same time. Only 15 percent said they believed Paul should be able to run for both offices.

Paul has not yet formally declared his bid for the presidency, but he said at an event in Washington, D.C. on Thursday that he expects to make an announcement in March or April.