2028 Republican presidential nominee
$47.2M
NOV 7, 2028Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Overview
Current roleU.S. Senator
PartyRepublican
Political ideologyLibertarian Republican
Age63 years old (Jan 7, 1963)
GenderMale
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LocationKentucky
BackgroundPolitician
EducationBaylor University (attended)
Notable personal detailsRandal Howard "Rand" Paul is a U.S. Senator from Kentucky, serving since 2011, and has chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee since January 3, 2025. Trained as an ophthalmologist, he attended Baylor University and earned his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine. He founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic and previously practiced in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is married to Kelley Paul and they have three children.
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Positions
Economy & Taxes
Supports large tax cuts and major tax-code overhaul (including a 2015/2016 proposal to replace the existing code with a low flat tax), favors eliminating specific federal taxes and reducing executive-imposed tariffs; has introduced legislation to repeal targeted taxes and to constrain tariff authority. Positions emphasize smaller federal tax burden, simplification of the tax code, and limiting taxing power exercised by the executive branch.
Healthcare
Opposes the Affordable Care Act and supports market-based health reforms such as expanded health savings accounts, association health plans, and broader private-market options while proposing changes to Medicaid eligibility and program payments. Sponsors legislation to expand HSAs and association plans and has repeatedly introduced bills to modify Medicaid funding and Medicare service access. Emphasis is on reducing federal involvement and increasing private-market solutions rather than adopting single-payer or universal-government coverage.
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Immigration & Border
The senator has expressed both enforcement-focused positions (seeking to reinstate Trump-era asylum restrictions like "Remain in Mexico," investigating migrant transport practices, and advocating stronger border oversight) and more lenient views in the past (saying mass deportation is unrealistic and proposing probationary/legal-status pathways for long-term undocumented residents). His public record therefore contains both restrictionist and legalization-oriented elements without a single consistent position on broad reform or a clear pathway-to-citizenship stance.
Abortion & Reproductive Rights
The candidate identifies as 100% pro‑life, states that life begins at conception, supports policies to end or significantly restrict abortion nationwide, and has sponsored personhood and anti‑abortion funding measures. He has introduced and promoted legislation to declare constitutional protections for unborn children, to defund Planned Parenthood, and has voted for federal limits on abortion at later gestational stages. He also supports restricting federal funding for abortion domestically and abroad.
Climate & Energy
Supports an all-of-the-above energy approach that includes coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and renewables while opposing stringent federal regulations; has sponsored legislation to reduce EPA fuel and vehicle regulations and co-sponsored measures protecting coal. Has introduced a Senate resolution urging U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and has pushed to roll back or block federal climate regulations such as the Clean Power Plan.
Public Safety & Guns
Supports strong Second Amendment protections and opposes broad new federal gun restrictions while endorsing targeted measures to keep guns from terrorists and to preserve due process. Advocates for national concealed-carry reciprocity and has led efforts to roll back ATF pistol-brace and NFA regulations. Expresses constitutional concerns about red flag/ex parte gun-removal laws and emphasizes due-process safeguards in any eligibility checks.
Fundraising
Latest report: Cycle 20262024
2026
LatestCycle 2024
Cycle 2026
Source: FEC
New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.
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