Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is preparing to formally open an office in San Francisco, Calif., this weekend, a Paul campaign spokeswoman has confirmed. Paul hopes the western outpost will help him develop a relationship with the area’s burgeoning tech industry in the early days of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Paul began publicizing his desire to open an office in the center of the socially liberal city last year. In September 2014, he told the San Francisco Chronicle, “If we want to win the presidency, we have to figure out how to compete in California.” Since that time he has sought to capitalize on Silicon Valley’s libertarian streak and sought to make inroads with sympathetic donors in the tech industry.
Paul will make some fundraising stops and visit a “disrupting democracy” event with Lincoln Labs, a liberty-minded tech group, while visiting San Francisco this weekend, according to National Journal. Paul also attended a Lincoln Labs conference last summer to help tech-savvy conservatives and libertarians connect with political operatives from the Republican Party.
