Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has lost the support of a key ally in the liberty movement just one month ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Steve Hoffman, one of three national directors and an at-large board member of the grassroots Republican Liberty Caucus, recently endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz despite his previous backing of Paul.
“Cruz has the best chance to win, and I felt like I was wasting my time trying to help the Paul Campaign because he simply lacks the money, and what’s more, the dynamics to win a national campaign,” Hoffman told the Libertarian Republic.
Paul’s most recent fundraising figures pale in comparison to several of his Republican rivals, including Cruz.
In the third fundraising quarter, Paul’s campaign reported a total haul of $2.5 million. Cruz, meanwhile, raised $12.2 million in that time frame and nearly $20 million in the fourth quarter. Paul has yet to disclose his fundraising performance in the fourth quarter.
Paul’s upcoming absence from the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention in mid-January was also a factor in Hoffman’s decision to get behind Cruz.
“Rand was elected to the Senate, largely by support of those of us in the Tea Party/Liberty movement, yet he is going to be noticeably absent from the most important Tea Party event this year in arguably the most important primary state,” Hoffman said. He said he was confused by Paul’s decision to skip the event since the Kentucky senator is expected to travel to South Carolina two days before the convention for the first GOP primary debate of 2016.
“Rand will be in Charleston for the debate on [Jan.] 14, why not stay around for the convention as most other candidates are doing?” he said.
The Tea Party activist predicts there are far more GOP voters like Hoffman who would easily rally behind Cruz should Paul choose to exit the 2016 contest.
“There’s no doubt that the vast majority of Rand’s supporters will come over to Cruz if Rand drops out at some point,” Hoffman said. He said that at the RLC’s recent national convention, “Paul and Cruz were nearly tied in our straw poll, with Rand being a few points ahead.”
“So it’s clear that within the RLC, Cruz and Paul stand out as the two acceptable candidates,” he said.
Cruz tops the Washington Examiner’s latest presidential power rankings while Paul stands in sixth place.
