Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) raised $1 million in the last three months of 2023, the most he’s ever posted in fourth-quarter filings in a nonelection year.
Paul began this year with more than $6 million in the bank despite not being on the ballot again until 2028, according to his Federal Election Commission filings submitted on Sunday, three days before the fourth-quarter deadline. The Kentucky senator won reelection to a third term in 2022, at which point he had $5 million in cash on hand. He raised over $3.1 million in 2023.
Paul also saw an end-of-year fundraising boost thanks to the launch of his “Never Nikki” website, which targeted Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
The site criticized Haley, the former South Carolina governor, for her views on U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts and her since-withdrawn comments that social media companies should ban anonymous posters, the latter of which he decried as a “lack of respect for freedom of speech.”
The site’s homepage features a video of Paul detailing his opposition to Haley’s candidacy and an entry form for a petition for people to sign. It also features a “Never Nikki” shirt for sale through WinRed, the GOP’s online fundraising conduit.
A source close to the senator noted to the Washington Examiner that Paul did not include fundraising appeals in his Never Nikki promotional materials, though they acknowledged that supporters seeing and liking the website probably prompted the bump.
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Paul, the Senate’s staunchest libertarian, wanted to maintain his fundraising momentum last year after impressive showings in 2021 and 2022, the source said. He raised more than $25 million in that time.
Senators serve six-year terms, giving them ample time to fundraise for their statewide races.
