Free Republic

Of the Presidential candidates: Sanders - NO Rubio - NO Cruz - YES Graham - Did not vote

A bill that would allow key government surveillance programs to resume for now – after they were temporarily suspended Sunday – cleared another hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday.

Governor: MATT BEVIN (R) MattBevin.comOpponent: Jack Conway (D) Lt. Governor: JENEAN HAMPTON (R) (Note: In Kentucky, Governor and Lt. Governor run together on the same slate as running mates vs. separate elections like in many other states) Opponent: Sannie Overly (D) Secretary of State: STEVE KNIPPER (R)Steve Knipper campaign websiteOpponent: Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) State Auditor: MIKE HARMON (R)Mike Harmon campaign websiteOpponent: Adam Edelen (D)Attorney General: WHITNEY WESTERFIELD (R) Whitney Westerfield campaign websiteOpponent: Andy Beshear (D)State Treasurer: ALLISON BALL (R) Allison Ball campaign websiteOpponent: Rick Nelson (D) Commissioner of Agriculture: RYAN QUARLES (R)RyanQuarles.comOpponent: Jean-Marie Lawson Spann (D)

LEXINGTON — Unity within the Republican Party of Kentucky has been a narrative since Louisville businessman Matt Bevin’s win in the May 19 gubernatorial primary. Not only did Bevin survive a bitter four-way primary for governor on the Republican side by a mere 83 votes, he also unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. The latter race has drawn the lion’s share of attention given Bevin’s inability to publicly endorse McConnell by name after his nearly 25-point loss to the now Senate majority leader. The Kentucky Democratic Party, in fact, has published a website dedicated to past anti-Bevin comments from fellow...

The legal authority for several national security programs expired at midnight Sunday and will not be renewed for at least two days, after Senate Republicans leaders were unable to maneuver around Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a presidential candidate who followed through on a pledge to block an extension of the law. The Senate closed a rare Sunday session without approving the only legislation that would have averted a lapse in the authority — a House-passed bill that would provide for an orderly transition away from the most controversial program authorized under the current law: the National Security Agency’s bulk collection...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Monday walked back his comments that some in Washington might be “secretly” hoping for a terrorist attack with the expiration of provisions of the PATRIOT Act, saying in an interview on Fox News that “hyperbole can get the better of anyone,” and that was what happened on the Senate floor on Sunday. “I think, sometimes, in the heat of battle, hyperbole can get the better of anyone, and that may be the problem there. The point I was trying to make is that I think people do use fear to try to get us to...

Republican Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) faced off late Sunday afternoon, as the Kentucky Republican tried to speak from the Senate floor about expiring provisions of the Patriot Act. McCain and Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) were speaking about the National Security Agency's (NSA) phone "metadata" collection program when Paul tried to ask a question. Coats said he had not yielded the floor to Paul, effectively blocking the 2016 presidential candidate from speaking. Coats then yielded to McCain for a question, instead. "The senator from Kentucky needs to learn the rules of the Senate," McCain said. "Maybe the...

As the accolades and attaboys come in for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) standing up against the continuation of NSA surveillance, we would do well to remember that this is a man who believes the GOP created ISIS. While many candidates are saying that “knowing what they know now” they wouldn’t have supported the Iraq War, Paul went a step further and basically gave an updated version of his father’s view of 9/11; a view which received gasps and boos from the audience when Ron Paul espoused it during the 2007 Republican primary debates. Those gasps have turned into agreement and...

I didn't a post saying LIVE THREAD, so I decided to post one. Senator Rand Paul will likely be able to force an end to some parts of the NSA program by midnight. (1 hour 15 minutes from now) http://www.c-span.org/video/?326227-2/us-senate-debate-nsa-surveillance&live

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance the USA Freedom Act Sunday evening, but too late to prevent Sen. Rand Paul from being able to force a short-term expiration of Patriot Act surveillance authorities at midnight. The overwhelming vote Sunday came after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., threw in the towel on advancing any short-term extensions of the Patriot Act authorities under the continuing objections of Paul, the fellow Kentuckian he has endorsed for the presidency. The Senate voted 77-17, far above the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill. Several more steps are required, however, before a vote on final passage,...

Full Title - Ted CruzÂ’s rainy day socialism: How a right-wing fanatic learned to stop worrying and love redistribution When New Jersey was underwater, Cruz slammed federal relief spending. Now he's asking for some of his ownEnlargeTed Cruz (Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) For the first time ever, I agree with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Tex.. Specifically, as deadly floods drown parts of Texas, I absolutely agree that President Obama and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ought to spend taxpayer funds redistributed from citizens in other states, including from leftists in Massachusetts, New York and California, to...

Senate advocates for an overhaul of National Security Agency surveillance programs sound confident they have the votes to advance the USA Freedom Act. It’s just a matter of time. “I think we’ll get it passed on Sunday night,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told CNN Saturday, making a bullish prediction on the timing. “Now, by the rules of the Senate, with objections and so forth … the Patriot Act may very well expire Sunday night, but we’ve got to start moving forward here. We could have done this a week ago. And this is the nature of Washington, D.C., is always...

Sen. Lindsey Graham will formally announce his candidacy for president in his hometown of Central, S.C., on Monday, entering the race with the strongest foreign policy resume of any candidate. Republican strategists give him little chance of winning, but say he could play the role of kingmaker in South Carolina, a crucial early primary state that — with the exception of 2012 — historically picks the Republican nominee. Graham’s bid is designed to push the muscular foreign policy approach that he and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), his close ally, have advocated for years.

LEXINGTON — Two-thirds may not have been his crowd at the beginning of the night, but by the time state Republicans left Lexington’s Marriott Griffin Gate Saturday they at least had a dose of humor, and an attempt at reunification from freshly minted nominee Matt Bevin. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell was back in Washington D.C., but that didn’t stop his one time rival from attempting to make light of potential tension between Bevin and McConnell at the statewide Republican Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday. A video was played to illustrate the true nature of the Bevin/McConnell relationship. Bevin, the former...

Hours before the Senate’s PATRIOT Act standoff hit its peak this month, Republican leaders thought they had Rand Paul figured out. He would object, rail on the matter on the Senate floor — and then let at least a temporary extension through. “I don’t agree with Sen. Paul on this issue, but I think he’s been a constructive guy,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said just before the week-long recess. A day later with the clock past midnight and the Senate in a standstill largely because of Paul’s objections, Cornyn wasn’t nearly as generous. “I’m a little surprised,”...

Rand Paul’s presidential campaign wants to portray his fight to block any Patriot Act extension as a faceoff against President Barack Obama. But the Kentucky senator is waging an increasingly lonely battle. Some of his usual tea party allies are abandoning him. House Republican leaders are not pleased with his antics. And then there’s Paul’s feud with the senior senator from Kentucky and the most prominent Republican to endorse his presidential campaign, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Put it this way — there aren’t many times that Obama, Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, Speaker John A. Boehner, House Majority Leader...

Rand Paul plans to force the expiration of the PATRIOT Act Sunday by refusing to allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to expedite debate on a key surveillance bill. In a statement to POLITICO Saturday, Paul warned that he would not consent to any efforts to pass either an extension of current law or the USA Freedom Act, a reform bill passed overwhelmingly by the House earlier this month.

Not the endorsement someone heading into the Republican primaries would normally want, but it's the one Rand Paul got. On today's This Week [hosted by Jonathan Karl in the absence of Stephanopoulos], far-left Rep. Keith Ellison declared that on a variety of issues, including opposition to the Patriot Act, he is "proud to stand" with Rand Paul. Roll the video and watch Bill Kristol look on benignly as Ellison praises Paul. You can imagine he was thinking that every Ellison accolade was another chunk of GOP primary voters lost for Kristol's least-favorite Republican candidate. In the unkindest cut, Kristol claimed...

FRANKFORT — Standing in the namesake building of his foe in last year’s U.S. Senate primary, Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin said Friday any perceived grudges in the GOP are overstated. Bevin headlined a press conference at Republican Party of Kentucky headquarters featuring other GOP candidates for constitutional office, hoping to demonstrate party unity ahead of a state Lincoln Day dinner in Lexington on Saturday. Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who conceded the race Friday after a recanvass showed no change in Bevin’s 83-vote margin of victory, promised in a statement to “do everything I can to see that he wins...

Ten days after a photo finish in the GOP primary for Kentucky governor, the race is officially decided. After a statewide re-canvass by county clerks, Louisville businessman Matt Bevin held on to his narrow 83-vote margin of victory and current Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer conceded the race. "After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to forgo a vote recount and concede to Matt Bevin," Comer said in a statement Friday. "Within minutes of receiving the re-canvass results, I called Matt Bevin to concede and congratulate him on a hard fought victory. Many of you have encouraged me to...