LEXINGTON, Ky. — In politics, candidates usually can only run for one office at a time.

But Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other federal officeholders would, by law, be able to run for reelection and president in 2028 under a bill advancing in the GOP-led state Legislature.

House Bill 534 from Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, passed the House Committee on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Thursday morning.

The bill makes many tweaks to the state’s elections law, but the biggest would allow all eight of Kentucky’s federal officeholders — six House members and two senators — to run for president while also seeking for reelection. The bill had previously passed through the committee, but the provision allowing federal officeholders was added in a committee substitute Thursday.

Johnson did not name Paul while testifying on the bill, but hinted the state’s junior senator was the reason for that provision.

“We have a unique situation where we have an elected official at the federal level who has also garnered national attention for the possibility of running them for the most important office in our country, which is president of the United States,” Johnson said, in part. “And we could say ‘either or’ on that, but at the same time, the voters have spoken that they want this person to be in the position they’re in, I thought the best... option was to allow them to be able to do both.”

The new language in the bill adds an explicit exception to the rule that a candidate’s name not appear more than once on the ballot. Under H.B. 534, it can, if they are “a candidate for two different federal offices on the same ballot, if one of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College and the person currently holds an elected federal office.”

The only office decided by the electoral college is president.

Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, questioned why that language was necessary.

“I was wondering where that came from and why we would need that. In Kentucky, it’s always been you have to pick one or another,” she said.

Johnson said it was “brought to me as a consideration” that Paul was being talked about as a possible presidential candidate in 2028.

Though not considered a frontrunner, Paul’s presidential ambitions are no secret. He has carved out a unique lane in the national GOP for his position against foreign aid and intervention, like U.S. military action in Iran, as well as President Donald Trump’s tariffs. He is regularly mentioned as a possible contender and has not denied interest, though he’s asserted his intention to run for reelection.

Paul also ran for president in 2016. He supported a similar bill in the lead up to that election, but the then-Democratic House blocked it. The state party eventually allowed Paul to run for both by adopting a caucus-style election that year. Trump eventually won the nomination, and Paul won reelection to his post.

The latest legislative effort passed through committee Thursday with majority GOP support. The three Democrats present voted against it.

Not all Republicans were on board, however. Rep. Jim Gooch, R-Providence, said he was a no vote on the provision in part because “we have some members of our federal delegation that, to me, are becoming an embarrassment for Kentucky.”

Johnson responded courteously.

“I’ve decided to err on the side of what I think is what the voters would like,” Johnson said.

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