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Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul may have to choose between keeping his Senate seat and running for the presidency. Andrew Nelles/AP hide caption

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul may have to choose between keeping his Senate seat and running for the presidency.

Everyone knows Sen. Mitch McConnell had a great election night in Kentucky last week. As for the state's other Republican senator, Rand Paul, that's a different matter.

That's because while McConnell was cruising to a big re-election win on his way to becoming Senate majority leader, things did not go so well for Paul. He was hoping Republicans, who already control the Kentucky Senate, would also take over the state House a result that would grease the path for a state law allowing him to run for both re-election and the presidency at the same time.

But that failed to happen. And the Democrats who are still in charge of the state House are disinclined to pass a law to help Paul.

Kentucky's Democratic House speaker Greg Stumbo refused to take up the two-ballot-spots-at-once bill earlier this year because it was designed for a single person, in violation of Kentucky's constitution. "There's only one guy who's talking about holding onto his Senate seat and also running for United States president," he told NPR.

Kentucky law prohibits a candidate from running for two different offices at once. Republican Sen. Rand Paul is running for re-election and is also exploring a bid for president. Kentucky Legislature hide caption

With Stumbo still in control, Paul may eventually have to choose between running for the White House and holding onto his Senate seat.

Officially, keeping the Senate seat remains Paul's only goal at this moment. "Sen. Paul is 100 percent focused on his re-election," says spokesman Dan Bayens even as Paul openly discusses his interest in running for president.

Paul's situation is similar to, but much more difficult than, those facing other Republican senators thought to be considering a 2016 presidential run.

Read more here:
Rand Paul's Kentucky Problem