When Rand Paul won his Kentucky Senate seat in 2010, he made it a priority to expand the Republican Party to include more young people and minorities.
Public Policy Polling released two polls Tuesday that show he’s halfway there.
In his re-election bid for Senate, Paul is winning the youth vote against all Democratic opponents by nearly double digits.
He leads Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.) by 9 percent and his Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen by 11.
His advantage among young voters is significant considering that he lost Millennials when he first ran in 2010 by a slim margin according to the Associated Press exit polls at that time.
As a presidential candidate against Hillary Clinton (D), Paul is losing the Millennials slightly, but it is within the poll’s margin of error. She leads 47 percent to 44 percent.
While Paul has built up significant momentum among young voters, he hasn’t done as well with black voters. He currently polls in the mid-single digits for both his re-election as senator and his bid as a presidential candidate.
Paul has spent the better part of two years reaching out to black voters and demanding reforms that are typically seen as cornerstone issues in these communities.
But for his re-election, Paul receives just 4 percent and 7 percent of the vote against Beshear and Luallen, respectively.
To add insult to injury, he received nearly twice that number of votes from black voters in 2010.
Against Clinton, Paul fairs no better than any other Republican running for president in gaining the black vote. Against Clinton, Paul receives just five percent of the black vote, according to PPP.
Though Paul has done a good job expanding the Republican brand with youth, a lot more work must be done to break down the Democratic Party’s lock on black voters.
