Rand Paul

Rand Paul
Official portrait, 2022
United States Senator
from Kentucky
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Serving with Mitch McConnell
Preceded byJim Bunning
Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byRob Portman
Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee
In office
February 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byBen Cardin
Succeeded byJoni Ernst
Personal details
Born
Randal Howard Paul

(1963-01-07) January 7, 1963 (age 61)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1990)
Children3
RelativesRon Paul (father)
EducationBaylor University
Duke University (MD)
Signature
WebsiteSenate website

Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011.[1] A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12-term U.S. representative from Texas, Ron Paul. Paul describes himself as a constitutional conservative and supporter of the Tea Party movement.

Paul attended Baylor University and is a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine. Paul was a practicing ophthalmologist in Bowling Green, Kentucky, from 1993 until his election to the Senate in 2010. He was re-elected to a second term in 2016, and won a third term in 2022.[2]

Paul was a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He ended his campaign in February 2016 after finishing in fifth place during the Iowa caucuses. While he initially opposed Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries, he supported him following his nomination and became one of his top defenders in the U.S. Senate during his first impeachment trial,[3] though on key votes Paul aligned with Trump the third least among Republican senators during Trump's presidency.[4]

  1. ^ The senior US Senator from Kentucky is Mitch McConnell, see also List of current United States senators.
  2. ^ Dean, Kelly (January 4, 2022). "Sen. Rand Paul announces he has filed for re-election". WBKO.
  3. ^ Watkins, Morgan (January 31, 2020). "How Rand Paul went from calling Donald Trump an 'orange windbag' to being a devout disciple". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  4. ^ "Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. January 13, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2023.