FRANKFORT, Ky. — Rand Paul is under increasing pressure from Republicans here and in Washington to pull the plug on his stagnant presidential campaign and instead recommit his resources to keeping his Senate seat in GOP hands.

D.C. Republicans think Paul's poll numbers have flat-lined — and operatives worried about retaining control of the Senate are ready for him to start spending a lot more time in Kentucky and a lot less time in Iowa and New Hampshire.


"This presidential dream needs to come to an end," said a national Republican strategist, granted anonymity to discuss Paul's situation candidly. "Senate Republicans can’t afford to have a competitive race in Kentucky."

Paul, however, is showing little sign of giving up. Even with poll numbers so low that he might not appear on the main stage for the third GOP debate and his fundraising slowing to a crawl, Paul has a message for those who say it's time to suspend his run for the White House and focus on his Senate reelection: I can handle both.

Paul arrived at a recent campaign event here for GOP gubernatorial nominee to a uniformly positive and presidential-focused reception. The approximately 60 people who trudged to the basement of a Baptist ministry across the street from Kentucky State University welcomed Paul with chants of "President Paul! President Paul!" Many attendees wore T-shirts and signs emblazoned with Paul's torch-like presidential campaign logo.

Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) introduced Paul as "our candidate for president of the United States." GOP gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin said the first-term senator "would be an extraordinary president of the United States."

"Who would say such a thing? Rebuke them!" Paul sarcastically told reporters after the event who asked about suggestions that he drop out and focus on his Senate reelection. "They don't know anything about politics. They all write for a living."

Asked directly if he was worried about his Senate seat, Paul was blunt: "No."

The Republican's confidence isn't completely misplaced. With statewide elections set for November, Democrats have yet to secure a challenger — although most expect state Auditor Adam Edelen to jump into the contest if he can win reelection to his post next month.

Still, Paul's presence in the state has been far from constant. He skipped the annual Fancy Farm gathering in early August, traditionally a must-attend for Kentucky politicians. And local Republicans have noticed.

"He needs to pay attention to the Senate race, or we could lose the seat," said one member of the Kentucky GOP's executive council. "Why don't you ask around the state to see how many Lincoln Day dinners or parades he's been too? It's not many."

Republicans in D.C. aren't yet panicking about losing Paul's Senate seat — only about having to spend money to retain it in a year when they need that cash in at least a half-dozen other competitive states.

Paul's team insists the candidate can run successfully for both offices at the same time. Just last month, Paul demonstrated his commitment to running simultaneously for both by ponying up $250,000 to pay for the Kentucky GOP to hold a presidential caucus instead of a primary — circumventing a Kentucky law that prevents a candidate from being on the ballot for two offices. About three-quarters of executive committee members signed on to Paul's plan.

Meanwhile, his Senate campaign is staffing up, bringing on Chris LaCivita, the strategist who helped turn around Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts' faltering reelection bid last year, as a senior adviser. Longtime Paul hand Doug Stafford is also advising the Senate bid. Kelsey Cooper, who worked as the Kentucky GOP's spokeswoman during McConnell's reelection, is running the communications operation. Laura Haney is running the campaign's finance team. The campaign has also started hiring field workers and is on the verge of opening offices in both Louisville and Lexington.

The senator's allies are also quick to note Paul hasn't been dodging his official duties, missing only a handful of roll-call votes this year — a fact that doubles as a critique of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose poor voting record has dogged him in the campaign. (Democrats note that Paul's attendance at Senate Foreign Relations and Homeland Security committee meetings has been sporadic, however.)

"Sen. Paul's No. 1 priority is doing the job he was elected to do and his nearly perfect attendance record in the Senate is evidence of his unwavering commitment to all Kentuckians," said Cooper, the communications director on Paul's Senate campaign. "Sen. Paul has always said he would run for both Senate and president — which is exactly what he's doing."

Cooper passed along a long list of events Paul has held in the state in recent months, ranging from visiting a summer camp in Louisville's impoverished West End to a roundtable with local elected officials in Corbin about how to battle a opioid epidemic in Eastern Kentucky's coal country.

Despite the behind-the-scenes grumblings, Republican officials in D.C. and in Kentucky aren't ready to push Paul out of the race publicly just yet. Barr, interviewed after the rally, said Paul would know what was best.

"I'm not going to give Sen. Paul advice," he said. "I trust him to make the right judgment. Obviously, we're proud of Sen. Paul for representing Kentucky in the presidential race. And if [it] doesn't work out in the presidential race for Sen. Paul, the Republican Party in Kentucky will rally around him and get him reelected."

Jim Skaggs, a party veteran who represents Paul's hometown of Bowling Green on the executive council, has donated to Paul in the past. He sold Paul the plot of land on which the freshman senator's house now stands. But he said he still worries about Paul's ability to raise money for a Senate bid after likely losing a run for the presidency.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just run for a safe Senate seat than make a long-shot bid for the presidency?" he said, emphasizing the choice was ultimately Paul's to make: "Certainly, he has a right to run."

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, laughed heartily when asked recently about many Republicans' private assessment that Paul would do better as a Senate candidate seeking reelection than as a presidential hopeful.

“What I’ve said is that as NRSC chairman I am going to studiously resist commenting on anything that relates to the presidential race and the presidential candidates … so I’m just not going to put my foot on that slippery slope,” Wicker said in an interview. Asked if he thinks Kentucky is a safe seat for Republicans, Wicker couldn’t even say if Democrats have a candidate: “If they do, I don’t know that person.”

Kentucky Democrats believe Edelen — a former chief of staff to popular Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear — is likely to enter the race and could provide Paul with a stiff challenge. But Republicans are hoping to crush Edelen's Senate hopes by thwarting his reelection bid: A SurveyUSA poll last week showed Edelen running neck-and-neck with GOP state Rep. Mike Harmon.

"Auditor Edelen’s focus is on his reelection campaign for state auditor, and continuing his record of unparalleled bipartisan accomplishment as state auditor," David Miller, Edelen's communications director, wrote in an email.

Democrats suggested Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, who made an unsuccessful Senate bid in 2008, could also be a potential candidate. Even without a candidate in the race yet, Democrats hope that the longer Paul stays in the presidential race, the he will alienate Kentucky voters.

"Rand Paul’s presidential campaign is going down in flames, and his second-pick Senate bid will no doubt go the same way after he has gone to great lengths to assure Kentucky voters that he views his Senate seat as nothing more than a consolation prize," DSCC spokeswoman Sadie Weiner said.

Republicans counter any message sent by Paul's ambitions would be no worse than one sent by Edelen jumping into the Senate race immediately after winning another term as auditor.

At the Frankfort rally, Paul acknowledged his poor poll numbers — he's averaging 2.75 percent in the most recent polls, barely above the 2.5-percent threshold to qualify for the main stage at the CNBC debate on Oct. 28. But he cited a strong grass-roots network in Iowa and strength among younger voters as reasons to stick with his presidential bid in the coming months.

"We’re in for the long haul," Paul insisted. "We’ll be in for the primaries."

Burgess Everett in Washington contributed to this report.