Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) is weighing an early entry into the presidential race with an announcement that could come as soon as April 7, according to reports.
Sources close to the senator say that if he decides to run he could announce the second week of April.
{mosads}The move would help Paul get a fundraising start over his rivals and build support months before Iowa’s first in the nation caucus.
“It just makes it neat and clean at the beginning of the [fundraising] quarter, an associate of Paul’s told the New York Times in a report published late Tuesday.
Paul will speak with family members about his decision over the next month. A source told the paper that only family concerns could change Paul’s mind about entering the race.
Paul would likely announce a 2016 bid in Kentucky.
But that state’s election laws pose a problem for the junior senator: Kentucky does not allow candidates to seek two offices at the same time.
Paul, who would be up for reelection in 2016, has asked the state GOP to consider holding a presidential caucus instead of a primary. A caucus would be held earlier and could keep Paul from appearing on the same ballot twice for two offices.
The Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, though, has vowed to take Paul to court if he seeks two offices. Grimes last year lost a bid to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) now majority leader in the upper chamber.