Rand Paul Vaults to GOP Top Tier in latest PPP Poll

A new PPP poll
finds Kentucky Senator Rand Paul coming in second among
Republican voters’ most favored candidates to run for president in
2016. Just over a month ago, Rand Paul came in at 6th place with
just 10 percent among likely Republican voters. Now Paul garners 17
percent of Republican voters, the second most likely candidate to
be mentioned. 

Among Republican voters, 75 percent have a favorable opinion of
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), 62 percent have a favorable view of Sen.
Marco Rubio (R-FL), and 60 percent are favorable toward Sen. Rand
Paul (R-KY).

Interestingly, Chris Christie was the only Republican asked
about who received higher marks from Democrats (42 percent) than
Republicans (39 percent). Christie’s favorability among Democrats
may be a harbinger of the 2016 race. When asked who Republican
voters would like see run for president, 21 percent named Marco
Rubio, but in a close second and third 17 percent named Rand Paul,
15 percent named New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Other
Republican candidates making the list include Paul Ryan (12
percent), Jeb Bush (12 percent), Rick Santorum (5 percent), Bobby
Jindal (4 percent), Rick Perry (2 percent), and Susana Martinez (1
percent).

Among Democratic voters, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton tops the list of most favorable at 84 percent, followed by
Vice President Joe Biden (73 percent), and Senator Elizabeth Warren
a distant third at 43 percent.

In hypothetical match-ups among likely primary voters, Hillary
Clinton beats each potential Republican candidate. Hillary beats
Chris Christie by 4 points, Rand Paul by 6 points, and Marco Rubio
and Paul Ryan by 7 points. However, Chris Christie beats Joe Biden
by 9 points 49 to 40 percent. Nevertheless, Joe Biden beats the
remaining potential Republican contenders: by 2 points over Marco
Rubio, 3 points over Paul Ryan, and 4 points over Rand Paul.

PPP surveyed
1247 voters included oversamples of Democratic and Republican
primary voters from March 27-30 2013. The margin of error is +/-
2.8% overall, +/-3.8% for Democrats and +/-2.9% for
Republicans.

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Kentucky Legislature Passes Hemp Bill, Rand Paul Vows Support From D.C.

The Kentucky Senate joined the House in

approving a hemp regulation bill last night. This morning, Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released a statement applauding the bill's
passage and promising to continue to push for a federal waiver from
the Controlled Substances Act for future Kentucky hemp growers:

“I commend the Kentucky General Assembly for final passage of
Senate Bill 50. I want to thank Kentucky Commissioner of
Agriculture James Comer, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Paul
Hornback and the members of the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission
for their leadership and hard work in passing this legislation,”
Sen. Paul said.

“Senate Bill 50 is an important step forward in the
reintroduction of industrial hemp in Kentucky. I have pledged,
along with Rep. John Yarmuth, to seek a waiver when a regulatory
framework is in place. I will follow through on that pledge and I
hope that Kentucky will soon start growing hemp, creating jobs and
leading the nation in this industry again.”

Earlier this month, libertarian activist Matt Hurtt
wrote for Reason about Kentucky's push for industrial hemp
legalization, and the support role Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell
are playing at the federal level.

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