Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul

While Kentucky is still willing to send Democrats to the state capitol, it's hard to see the state electing a Democratic senator anytime soon. However, Team Red seems to be genuinely worried that Rand Paul's dual campaign for president and for re-election will cost them what should be a safe seat. Politico reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are pressuring Paul to spend more time focusing on his Senate race.

While McConnell hasn't told Paul to pull the plug on his presidential bid, last month the NRSC’s executive director showed Paul's top strategist polls with "bleak" results. Ironically, it's McConnell's fault Team Red is in this situation. In August, the Kentucky GOP was about to reject Paul's plan to set up a presidential caucus that would allow him to run for both posts at once. If McConnell's allies hadn't intervened at the last minute and convinced the GOP to side with Paul, the junior senator would have needed to choose between presidential hopes or his campaign.

McConnell and the NRSC's intervention seems to have helped. Paul is devoting more time to fundraising for his Senate campaign, and he's staffing up his Senate campaign. Still, the GOP isn't satisfied that Paul's doing what he needs to do to keep his seat red. Right now, no notable Democrats are challenging Paul. However, state auditor Adam Edelen is reportedly likely to run if he's re-elected this November. But an early October SurveyUSA poll gave Edelen only a 35-33 lead in his re-election bid, and it's unclear who Team Blue will turn to if Edelen loses or decides not to run for the Senate.

We'll have a better idea where this Senate race stands after Edelen's contest ends November 3, but it seems that, remarkably, Paul has damaged the GOP's prospects in this deep red state.